DADT Repelled In The House

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House passes 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal

Posted: December 15th, 2010 -- 05:51 PM ET

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CNN Wire Staff

Washington (CNN) -- The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to overturn the ban on openly gay and lesbian soldiers serving in the U.S. military, passing legislation repealing the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

The bill -- a so-called "standalone" measure not tied to any other legislative items -- passed 250 to 175 in a virtual party-line vote. It now advances to the Senate.

The House previously passed a repeal of the ban as part of a larger defense spending authorization bill, but the measure stalled last week in the Senate.

"Now is the time for us to act," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California. "We should honor the service of all who want to contribute" to America's security. "Repealing 'don't ask, don't tell' makes for good public policy."

"Discrimination is wrong," declared Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia. "On the battlefield it does not matter who you love. Only the flag that you serve."

Conservative Republicans argued, among other things, that a repeal would place an unreasonable burden on the military at a time when it is already facing severe strains in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

This is "an imposition of somebody's social agenda," said Rep. Todd Akin, R-Missouri. It's an "eclipse of reason, an eclipse of common sense."

"The United States military is not the YMCA. It's something special," said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California. This is "a liberal crusade to create a utopia."

Top Democrats on Capitol Hill are trying to find a way to push through a repeal before the end of the current lame-duck congressional session. A Republican filibuster in the Senate has forced Democrats to find GOP support to get the necessary 60 Senate votes required to proceed. The Democratic Senate caucus has 58 members, meaning they need at least two Republicans to join them to overcome the filibuster.

Several centrist Senate Republicans have expressed support for a repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," but are pushing for more time to debate the initiative. They have also stood by a GOP pledge to block all Senate business until a resolution is reached on extending the Bush tax cuts and authorizing government spending for the rest of the fiscal year.

The more conservative incoming Congress -- which will be seated the first week of January -- is considered far less likely to overturn the Clinton-era ban.

A Pentagon study released earlier this month concluded that allowing openly gay or lesbian troops to serve in the military would have little lasting impact on the U.S. armed forces. Opposition to the change appeared to be much higher in Army and Marine combat units than in the military as a whole.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned that court challenges to "don't ask, don't tell" could force an abrupt repeal of the policy, rather than the process in the legislation that would allow the military to manage the change on a longer timetable.

Last spring, Gates made changes that required any fact-finding inquiries about a possible "don't ask, don't tell" violation in the ranks to be started by an officer with the rank of colonel or Navy commander or higher. He also initiated rules that made it more difficult for a service member to be removed because of a third-party "outing."

The number of military discharges made due to the policy has since dropped sharply.

CNN's Alan Silverleib contributed to this report