Jerry Nadler: “this resolution would have us believe that a grave threat is presented to the security of this Nation by the policy of…”

“this resolution would have us believe that a grave threat is presented to the security of this Nation by the policy of some institutions of higher learning to bar military recruiters from their campus because of the discrimination against gay and lesbian people by the military. But that, Mr. Speaker, is not the threat to our national security. The threat to our national security is the policy of the military to refuse to use the talents and the abilities of gay people in defending our country. One of the biggest problems we have in Iraq now is the shortage of people who know how to translate intelligence documents written in Arabic and Farsi, and yet they are dismissing linguists who can translate these documents for our use to save the lives of our troops because they are gay. This is insanity. Our troops are paying with their lives because of the bigotry that this Congress has mandated on the military, number one. Even that is not the real issue presented by this resolution. The real issue presented by this resolution has to do with free speech and association.”