On the recordSeptember 21, 2010
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has reached a conclusion, the Secretary of Defense has reached a conclusion--that this policy should be changed. It should be. We ought to debate it. Whether to change this policy, how it is changed--how it is implemented is what they set in motion, a study to help them decide. That is the process they agreed to. Have they offended or insulted the men and women of the Armed Forces by concluding that this policy should change? Has the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mullen, somehow, in some way, not taken into consideration the well-being of the men and women of the Armed Forces when he concluded this policy should change? Has Secretary Gates been guided by elections coming up when he concluded that this policy should change and that the study that is underway should be taken in order to determine how to implement that change? I don't consider that they have offended or insulted the men and women they command.
