GyBill
04-15-2005, 21:55
Top U.S. General Defends Military's Policy on Gays
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday defended the "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning openly gay people from serving in the U.S. military amid a new push by critics in Congress to repeal it.
"I know there is some interest in the subject, as there is almost continuously. In the meantime, we try to implement the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy the best we can," Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, the top U.S. military officer, told a meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
Myers said he supported the policy, adopted by Congress in 1993. It allows homosexuals to serve in the armed forces only if they do not reveal their sexual orientation and abstain from gay sex.
"Our job is to make sure we execute and implement that (policy) in the way that was intended by the law, and it involves, like a lot of things, continual education," Myers added.
Republican Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, Christopher Shays of Connecticut and Jim Kolbe of Arizona have joined about 70 Democrats in co-sponsoring a bill introduced in March in the House of Representatives by Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Martin Meehan to prohibit discrimination against homosexuals in the military.
The bill's supporters are seeking hearings, but its passage in the Republican-controlled Congress appears to be a long shot.
Meehan said on introducing the bill, "In a time of war, it is outrageous that our military continues to discharge thousands of experienced and dedicated service members -- many with critical skills in the war on terror -- for reasons that have nothing to do with their conduct in uniform or their willingness to serve their country."
Those opposed to gays serving in the military have argued the presence of homosexuals in the ranks could undermine good discipline and order and harm unit cohesion.
The "don't ask, don't tell" policy was a compromise worked out with Congress under President Bill Clinton, who tried to lift the military's long-standing prohibition on homosexuals.
The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said in a February report the military had spent $190 million recruiting and training replacements for the roughly 9,500 service members discharged over the past decade because of their homosexuality.
Army Secretary Francis Harvey last month also defended "don't ask, don't tell" as "a long-standing policy, and I don't see any need to change it."
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday defended the "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning openly gay people from serving in the U.S. military amid a new push by critics in Congress to repeal it.
"I know there is some interest in the subject, as there is almost continuously. In the meantime, we try to implement the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy the best we can," Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, the top U.S. military officer, told a meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
Myers said he supported the policy, adopted by Congress in 1993. It allows homosexuals to serve in the armed forces only if they do not reveal their sexual orientation and abstain from gay sex.
"Our job is to make sure we execute and implement that (policy) in the way that was intended by the law, and it involves, like a lot of things, continual education," Myers added.
Republican Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, Christopher Shays of Connecticut and Jim Kolbe of Arizona have joined about 70 Democrats in co-sponsoring a bill introduced in March in the House of Representatives by Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Martin Meehan to prohibit discrimination against homosexuals in the military.
The bill's supporters are seeking hearings, but its passage in the Republican-controlled Congress appears to be a long shot.
Meehan said on introducing the bill, "In a time of war, it is outrageous that our military continues to discharge thousands of experienced and dedicated service members -- many with critical skills in the war on terror -- for reasons that have nothing to do with their conduct in uniform or their willingness to serve their country."
Those opposed to gays serving in the military have argued the presence of homosexuals in the ranks could undermine good discipline and order and harm unit cohesion.
The "don't ask, don't tell" policy was a compromise worked out with Congress under President Bill Clinton, who tried to lift the military's long-standing prohibition on homosexuals.
The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said in a February report the military had spent $190 million recruiting and training replacements for the roughly 9,500 service members discharged over the past decade because of their homosexuality.
Army Secretary Francis Harvey last month also defended "don't ask, don't tell" as "a long-standing policy, and I don't see any need to change it."