White House backs delayed gay ban repeal - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

White House backs delayed gay ban repeal

Members of Congress eager to press for a vote this week on repeal of the military’s gay ban received a sign of support late Monday from the White House for legislation delaying the effective date of repeal until after the Pentagon completes a report on how such a change would be made.

Supporters have talked about delaying the effective date of repeal until six months after the bill becomes law, which most likely would put off the change until February or March.

A longer delay is possible if that helps get votes in support of a repeal, according to congressional aides who have been working on the issue.

Peter R. Orszag, director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, said the White House also would have preferred the vote be delayed until after the Pentagon review is completed, but passing legislation now that repeals the current gay ban and the so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the service “meets the concerns raised by the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

Orszag’s letter was issued after the chief congressional sponsors of legislation to repeal the gay ban asked Monday afternoon for guidance on whether to press for votes this week as lawmakers work on the 2011 defense authorization bill.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who recently made a forceful case to lawmakers for putting off any legislative action until the Pentagon completes its ongoing internal review that will run at least through the end of this year, reluctantly accepted the congressional action.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Gates “continues to believe that ideally the DoD review should be completed before there is any legislation to repeal the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ law. With Congress having indicated that is not possible, the Secretary can accept the language in the proposed amendment.”

The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to vote on the issue Wednesday or Thursday, with Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., leading the effort.

Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., an Iraq war veteran and former law professor at the U.S. Military Academy, is planning to offer an amendment to repeal the gay ban when the defense bill comes up for debate on the House floor, which is expected Thursday or Friday.

The outcome in the House and Senate is not clear because there is strong opposition, mostly among Republicans, to changing the military’s ban on gays. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” has been law since 1993. There also are key Democratic opponents, among them Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., the House Armed Services Committee chairman who has made it clear he will vote against Murphy’s amendment.

Orszag’s letter improves the chances for those trying to repeal the ban. One of the concerns about voting this week was that Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen had asked Congress to delay repealing the law until the complete a comprehensive review of how such a big cultural change could be made.

Their call to hold off on voting led many Democrats, including those unenthusiastic about the change, to want to put off a vote until the review is completed — after the November general elections. Some Democrats have expressed concern that a vote to let gays openly serve could hurt their re-election chances, according to congressional aides who asked not to be identified.

White House endorsement of the repeal legislation helps get it vote but does not guarantee passage, said aides, who predict a fierce debate.

The Senate Armed Services Committee debate and vote on repeal most likely will be carried out behind closed doors because the committee does not work on the annual defense policy bill in open session. House debate, though, will be public, with the amount of time given to the issue to be determined later this week by the House Rules Committee.

Delaying repeal “will allow for completion of the comprehensive review, enable the Department of Defense to assess the results of the review and ensure that the implementation of the repeal is consistence with the standards of military readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, recruiting and retention,” Orszag said in the letter. “The amendment will also guarantee that the Department of Defense has prepared the necessary policies and regulations needed to successfully implement the repeal.”

Delay also “recognizes the critical need to allow our military and their families the full opportunity to inform and shape the implementation process through a thorough understanding of their concerns, insights and suggestions,” Orszag said.

The Defense Department has only started collecting the views of service members and their families about changing the policy.

While the White House may have told lawmakers to press ahead with repeal, the nation’s largest veterans group wants Congress to kept current policy.

Clarence E. Hill, national commander of the 2.2-million member American Legion, wrote in a May 19 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.: “Allowing homosexual servicemembers to announce their preference within the ranks could jeopardize the unit cohesion which is so essential to military success.

“We feel strongly that the current policy has served the U.S. military well for 17 years and it would not be wise to make a major cultural change in the middle of two wars,” Hill wrote. “Moreover, the Department of Defense has already directed a study on the policy and it would be premature to act before the commission conducting the study releases its findings.”

Two other major military organizations, the National Association for Uniformed Services and the Reserve Officers Association, also asked lawmakers to hold off on a vote until the Pentagon review is completed.

Leaders of the Reserve Officers Association warned that having Congress vote before people in the military and their families have a chance give their views could hurt implementing the policy. “If serving members and their families are not given an opportunity to provide feedback as part of the process, there will not be a buy-in to changes in policy, which could have a detrimental effect on morale and discipline of our fighting men and women,” says the ROA letter.

Alexander Nicholson, an Army veteran and executive director of Servicemembers United, a group trying to get the gay ban lifted, said White House support for the legislation “is long awaited, much needed and immensely helpful as we enter a critical phase of the battle.”

“We have been making the case to White House staff for more than a year now that delayed implementation is realistic, politically viable, and the only way to get the defense community on board with repeal, and we are glad to see the community and now the administration and defense leadership finally rally around this option,” Nicholson said in a statement.