On the recordSeptember 21, 2010
The issue that is creating all of the attention is a provision that the committee put in the bill dealing with don't ask, don't tell. The committee did a good job on that issue. What they said is, if the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense, after reviewing the work being done by the Pentagon--which will be completed this December--decide it is in the best interest of the United States military to do away with that policy, that will be the case. There are some who are saying this bill that came out of the committee repeals don't ask, don't tell. That is not the fact. It is not repealed in the bill. It simply says, I repeat, if the Defense Department, with the Secretary of the Defense and the President, certifies it will have no negative effect on the military after studying the Pentagon's work, then they can move forward on that and, in effect, repeal that policy. But it is not in this bill.
