Byrd gives 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal enough votes for committee

Source: cnn

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, said he would vote for the measure after securing a change in the language that would delay the repeal for 60 days after certification of a military review by President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen.

"I did not want to blindly assent to repealing this law without giving the Congress an opportunity to re-examine the concerns of our Armed Forces and the manner in which they are being addressed," the 92-year-old senator said.

Proponents of the repeal think Byrd brings the total of yea votes in the committee to 16 -- 15 are needed for passage. Initial votes on the proposal in the Senate Armed Services Committee and the full House could occur Thursday.

Gates gave lukewarm support for the plan on Tuesday, saying he preferred to complete the review before proceeding to the legislative repeal. The letters to McCain, R-Arizona, and McKeon, R-California, from the heads of the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force specifically opposed legislative action now, saying it would undermine the faith that service members put in the review process.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/26/congress.military.gays/

*sigh*

the upshot is, we have his vote.

I think that's remarkable. He's 92.

Just a little frustrated: this whole spectacle of review and certify and now Congressional double-checking is so stupid and so absurd.

And now DADT won't be over--the discharges won't stop--until February at the earliest. Guess not "memory by Christmas" after all...

The data has been very clear and for years. It's like ordering up a brand new biography of Lincoln.

So, you're right, of course.

and to Gates- fuck the complete review. Truman didn't wait for one when he desegregated the Army, and we shouldn't wait now.

about gays in the military. At least he gets it right toward the end of his life.

I hope I keep trying to do better into my 90s. lol

said gay men would be a big problem in the military. She said they would try to come on to straight men, like they would be interested to begin with! She is a 62 year old conservative so I am not surprised.

What's the excuse for that level of idiocy?

since he hasn't had an erection for three decades!

not exactly latte liberal country.

Somehow, I suspect this is going to be one of the rare Robert Byrd threads that won't be ENTIRELY overwhelmed by cooler-than-thou young ageists, who tend to want to demand his immediate ejection from the Senate due to his un-hot olditude -- ( while the hard core call for forced euthanasia as well.) :shrug: