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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1090 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1090

   Recognizing the hearing of the Committee on Armed Services of the 
   Senate on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, and the testimony of 
 Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Admiral Michael G. Mullen at 
 the hearing, as an important first step in permitting gay and lesbian 
Americans to serve openly in the Armed Forces and expressing the sense 
 of the House of Representatives that the policy should be repealed in 
                                 2010.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 22, 2010

   Mr. Hastings of Florida (for himself, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Ms. 
 Speier, Mr. Farr, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Honda, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. Pingree 
  of Maine, Ms. Berkley, Ms. Watson, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Ms. 
  Kilpatrick of Michigan, Ms. Chu, Mr. Filner, Mrs. Christensen, Ms. 
Richardson, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Israel, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Berman, Mr. 
 Dingell, Mr. Cummings, Ms. Jackson Lee of Texas, Mr. Towns, Mr. Lewis 
   of Georgia, Mr. Michaud, and Mr. Polis of Colorado) submitted the 
  following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
   Recognizing the hearing of the Committee on Armed Services of the 
   Senate on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, and the testimony of 
 Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Admiral Michael G. Mullen at 
 the hearing, as an important first step in permitting gay and lesbian 
Americans to serve openly in the Armed Forces and expressing the sense 
 of the House of Representatives that the policy should be repealed in 
                                 2010.

Whereas there are an estimated 66,000 members of the Armed Forces who are gay or 
        lesbian and approximately one million veterans who are gay or lesbian;
Whereas these brave men and women serve in the Armed Forces as highly trained 
        linguists, aviators, medics, and soldiers and are involved in valuable 
        operations that have nothing to do with their sexual orientation and 
        everything to do with protecting American lives and advancing the 
        national security interests of the United States;
Whereas the current policy concerning homosexuality in the Armed Forces, which 
        is referred to as the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and is codified as 
        section 654 of title 10, United States Code, continues to hurt members 
        of the Armed Forces, runs counter to the values exemplified by the Armed 
        Forces, and threatens national security;
Whereas in 2009, 428 members of the Armed Forces were discharged or released as 
        a result of application of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, at the 
        estimated cost of over $12 million;
Whereas since the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy was implemented in 1994, more 
        than 13,000 members have been discharged or released solely as a 
        consequence of their sexual orientation;
Whereas President Obama called for the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell 
        policy during his 2010 State of the Union address and pledged to work 
        with military leaders this year ``to finally repeal the law that denies 
        gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who 
        they are'';
Whereas the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate held a hearing on the 
        Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy on February 2, 2010, and heard testimony 
        from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Admiral Michael G. Mullen, 
        Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;
Whereas Secretary Gates declared his full support for the repeal of the Don't 
        Ask, Don't Tell policy;
Whereas Admiral Mullen stated the following: ``My personal belief is that 
        allowing homosexuals to serve openly would be the right thing to do. I 
        cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy 
        which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to 
        defend their fellow citizens. For me, it comes down to integrity--theirs 
        as individuals and ours as an institution.'';
Whereas Admiral Mullen is the highest ranking military officer in American 
        history to publically support permitting gay and lesbian Americans to 
        serve openly in the Armed Forces;
Whereas Secretary Gates, working in close consultation with Admiral Mullen, has 
        appointed a high-level working group within the Department of Defense, 
        led by Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson and General Carter Ham, to 
        review issues regarding the proper implementation of a repeal of the 
        Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy;
Whereas the mandate of this working group is to thoroughly, objectively, and 
        methodically examine all aspects of these issues and report its findings 
        and recommendations to Congress in the form of an implementation plan by 
        the end of 2010;
Whereas the working group will reach out to the force to authoritatively 
        understand their views and attitudes about the impacts of repeal, 
        undertake a thorough examination of all the changes to the department's 
        regulations and policies that may have to be made, and examine the 
        potential impacts of a change in law on military effectiveness;
Whereas Secretary Gates has directed the Department of Defense to quickly review 
        the regulations used to implement the current Don't Ask, Don't Tell 
        policy and, within 45 days, present him with recommended changes to 
        those regulations that would enforce the policy in a more human and fair 
        manner within existing law;
Whereas the Department of Defense will ask the RAND Corporation to update its 
        1993 study on the impacts of allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the 
        Armed Forces;
Whereas top leadership is critical to the successful implementation of a repeal 
        plan, however, full and final repeal of section 654 of title 10, United 
        States Code, remains up to Congress;
Whereas the 1993 RAND study recommended that changes to the Don't Ask, Don't 
        Tell policy be ``decided upon and implemented as quickly as possible'';
Whereas several studies suggest that the repeal of section 654 of title 10, 
        United States Code, can be implemented more quickly than indicated by 
        Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen;
Whereas the Subcommittee on Personnel Management of the Committee on Armed 
        Services of the House of Representatives will hold a hearing regarding 
        the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy on March 3, 2010, and the Committee on 
        Armed Services of the Senate intends to hold additional hearings 
        regarding the policy;
Whereas in his testimony, Secretary Gates stated that the working group will 
        need to ``engage men and women in uniform and their families'' in order 
        to assess their views regarding the effects of repeal of the Don't Ask, 
        Don't Tell policy and implementation of the repeal;
Whereas current members of the Armed Forces, regardless of their sexual 
        orientation, have valuable insight to share with military leaders and 
        Congress regarding the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and any repeal 
        implementation plan;
Whereas the discriminatory nature of section 654 of title 10, United States 
        Code, prevents members of the Armed Forces from speaking openly, and 
        both the Armed Forces and Congress will need a way to obtain information 
        from members to move forward with implementing repeal; and
Whereas all avenues to allow members of the Armed Forces to participate in the 
        upcoming Congressional hearings, and to protect them from retribution 
        for doing so, need to be explored: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the hearing of the Committee on Armed 
        Services of the Senate on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, and 
        the testimony of Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and 
        Admiral Michael G. Mullen at the hearing, as an important first 
        step in bringing about the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell 
        policy concerning homosexuality in the Armed Forces and in 
        permitting gay and lesbian Americans to serve openly in the 
        Armed Forces;
            (2) expresses the sense of the House of Representatives 
        that the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, as codified in section 
        654 of title 10, United States Code, should be repealed in 2010 
        and that repeal legislation should be promptly brought to a 
        vote in the Senate and House of Representatives;
            (3) expresses the hope that President Obama will continue 
        his leadership on this issue;
            (4) urges the Pentagon working group to deliver a repeal 
        implementation plan to Congress as soon as possible while 
        ensuring that the needs and concerns of members of the Armed 
        Forces are taken into consideration;
            (5) pledges to do its part to move the repeal planning and 
        implementation process forward on a timeline that is best for 
        all members of the Armed Forces; and
            (6) strongly recommends that the Committee on Armed 
        Services of the Senate and the Subcommittee on Personnel 
        Management of the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
        Representatives include members of the Armed Forces, regardless 
        of their sexual orientation, in the upcoming hearings regarding 
        the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.
                                 <all>
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