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SLDN Statement on Casey-Schwartz Testimony and Moratorium Option

SLDN Statement on Casey-Schwartz Testimony

This morning, Chief of Staff of the Army General George Casey appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding the defense authorization request for Fiscal Year 2011. General Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, testified on the same subject before the House Armed Services Committee. Among the topics discussed at both hearings was the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law. Reaction by SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis follows.

“Neither Gen. Casey nor Gen. Schwartz expressed opposition to the plan their bosses -- Sec. Gates and Adm. Mullen -- put before the committee earlier this month. We expect they will work within the framework the Pentagon has laid out. There will continue to be differences around the margins, but, at the end of the day, we expect the Chiefs will salute the commander in chief, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen.

“Regarding today’s debate on a DADT moratorium, the focus now should be on full repeal in the FY '11 DoD authorization bill before the Armed Services Committees.  The 66,000 gay and lesbian service members are looking for full repeal, not seeking a temporary legal fix that will only protect them for a few months and will require yet another vote by Congress down the road.

“We are disappointed in Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) misguided campaign to challenge the Pentagon's orderly transition to open service. The senator is plain wrong and continues to be disrespectful of the service and sacrifice that gay and lesbian service members make every day as they fight two wars with their straight colleagues. The senator is not only out of step with the majority of civilians, he is painfully out of step with the very troops that he wants to ‘protect' from gay patriots.”

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