Lynn C. Woolsey: “at a time of declining morale, when we are barely able to maintain a volunteer force, the sign on the Army recruiter's…”

“at a time of declining morale, when we are barely able to maintain a volunteer force, the sign on the Army recruiter's door might as well say: ``Openly gay Americans need not apply.'' Here is the military, struggling to meet its recruitment goals and in some instances even lowering its standards as a result, but still they are turning away and actively weeding out an entire group of people for no other reason than raw prejudice. How dumb is that. But yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that universities receiving Federal funding could not ban military recruiters from their campuses in protest over the military's discrimination against gay Americans. I am not going to relitigate that case here on the House floor, but I do think and I sincerely hope that this case can shine a national spotlight on the absolute folly of the ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy. Because of their sexual orientation and their unwillingness to conceal it, selfless patriotic Americans are forbidden from serving their country. They cannot serve even though their skills are desperately needed, even though there are available slots, even though they are volunteering for duty that most of their peers have opted against. How does the Army expect its people to be all they can be when it will not allow them to be who they are. What can be more un-American?…”