Catch up on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tellâ€
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Tf7n7MVbI]
Yesterday was a big day for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell†repeal. The Senate Armed Services Committee voted 16-12 to advance repeal as part of the Department of Defense authorization bill, then the full House of Representatives voted to attach identical repeal language as an amendment to the House bill. Several representatives gave moving floor speeches about repeal, including civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis, who you can watch above.
Don’t fear if you didn’t follow every second of the debate and vote, we’ve got you covered.
- Speaker Pelosi’s office put video of several floor speeches up on YouTube. In addition to the video of Rep. John Lewis above, check out the speeches by Rep. Patrick Murphy, who sponsored the repeal amendment; Rep. Tim Walz, the highest ranking former service member in Congress; Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer; and Speaker Pelosi herself.
- If the videos aren’t enough and you want to relive every minute of the House debate and vote, check out the Task Force’s live-tweeting from last night.
- The Task Force released statements after each of the votes. Read Rea Carey’s comments on the Senate Committee vote here, and her comments on the House vote here.
- President Obama also released a statement late last night, saying of the votes that repeal will “make our Armed Forces even stronger and more inclusive.â€
- Finally, as Rea said in both statements and this Newsweek piece, yesterday’s votes were important steps toward repeal, but the fight is far from over. The full Senate will vote on the Defense Authorization bill soon, and several senators including Sen. John McCain have already promised to filibuster to stop the vote. Your senators still need to hear your support for repeal. Dial 202.224.3121 and tell the switchboard you want to speak to your senators. Don’t wait, take action today and urge your senators to support repeal.
