Barbara Lee Statement on Senate Vote to Repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell
For Immediate Release
December 18, 2010
Contact: Nicole Y. Williams
(202) 225-2661
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) released this statement on the Senate vote to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," a controversial policy barring openly gay men and lesbians from serving in the military. The House passed this legislation on December 15th, the second time this year the House passed repeal. With the Senate’s vote, the bill will go to the President for his signature into law. She released this statement:
“Today’s landmark vote is a tremendous victory for equality and fairness and puts us on the verge of the full repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ For too long the LGBT community have been marginalized in our military forces and this failed policy has unfairly denied fundamental civil liberties to highly qualified individuals who wish to serve our country.
“As I have said before, discrimination is un-American and the repeal of this policy brings us closer as a nation to fulfilling the principals for which we espouse.
"I congratulate all of the leaders who have worked tirelessly to achieve today's victory, including my colleagues Representatives Patrick Murphy, Tammy Baldwin, Barney Frank, Speaker Pelosi, Senator Reid and many others.”
Barbara Lee is a Vice Chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus and an original co-sponsor of legislation to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell.” This historic action comes on the heels of the passage of an identical bill Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives, which Congresswoman Lee strongly supported.
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