Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank Senator Durbin for his eloquent remarks. I urge everyone who wants to get a full understanding of this issue of don't ask, don't tell to read his remarks. I would only say, if you sum it up, what my colleague has told us is that ending don't ask, don't tell will make us a stronger nation because we will have the unqualified support of people who are serving in the military in a situation where they have to hide who they are. This can't be good. Many of them are thrown out of the military. Frankly, if we do this, it means we are listening to the American people, a strong majority of whom support ending don't ask, don't tell; and listening to Secretary Gates, our Defense Secretary, who tells us he supports repeal; and listening, frankly, to the members of the military who have taken a survey and over 70 percent of them say we should end don't ask, don't tell. It is hard to understand why this is not being done. Senator Durbin is right. If it is done by the courts--which, by the way, I want it to be done by everyone, courts included--but if it is done by the courts before we deal with it, it means there will be more of a rush to change things, and it will take a lot of the control out of the hands of the Defense Secretary so he can phase in this change in policy.…”