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07-27-08
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette: Allowing gays in military opposed as threat to national security
The following is from the prepared statement of Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, for a House Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on gay people in the military. She argued that gays should be ineligible for service:
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before this committee today on an issue that is important to the strength, readiness, and culture of our military. The Center for Military Readiness (CMR) is an independent 501(c)(3) public policy organization that specializes in military/social issues. I founded CMR in 1993, and we are supported by civilians, retired and active duty military people in all 50 states and all branches of the armed forces. CMR is not affiliated with or funded by the Department of Defense. …
In 1993 members of Congress gave serious consideration to a proposal known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which was announced by President Clinton on July 19, 1993. The concept suggested that homosexuals could serve in the military as long as they didn’t say they were homosexual. … Instead of approving such a convoluted and legally questionable concept, Congress chose to codify Defense Department regulations that were in place long before Bill Clinton took office.
The resulting law, identified as Section 654, Title 10, continued the long-standing Defense Department policy stating that homosexuals are ineligible for military service. Following extensive debate in both Houses, the legislation passed with overwhelming, veto-proof bipartisan majority votes. …
Even though Congress rejected, with good reason, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” concept in 1993, the Clinton Administration imposed it on the military anyway in the form of enforcement regulations that were announced in December 1993. Those expendable regulations, unfortunately, remain in effect today. …
My primary purpose in the limited time available today is to focus attention on some of the consequences that would result from repeal of this law, Section 654, Title 10. In this statement and supporting documents I am submitting for the record, I would like to address these issues in detail. …
If Congress repeals the 1993 statute stating that homosexuals are not eligible to serve in uniform, and the military is ordered to accommodate professed (not discreet) homosexuals, the culture of the military will be radically changed. Recruiters will be directed to accept and even seek out professed homosexuals for induction in all branches of the military, including direct ground combat communities. This means that heterosexuals – the majority of men and women who volunteer to serve – will be required to live in forced cohabitation with professed (not discreet) homosexuals, on all military bases and ships at sea, on a 24/7 basis. Such a policy would impose new, unneeded burdens of sexual tension on men and women serving in high-pressure working conditions. …
Our national security depends on the men and women of the military. For our own sake as well as theirs, the United States armed forces must be constructed on foundations that are sound. We have to get this right; it is the only military we have. Ours is the strongest military in the world, and we have an obligation to keep it that way.
