Group Wants Vote On DADT During Lame-Duck

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) should schedule a vote on a measure to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy as soon as Congress reconvenes, said a group of pro-gay advocates on Thursday.

Servicemembers United, an interest group representing gay and lesbian troops and veterans, released a statement urging the newly-reelected Reid to work quickly on a repeal of DADT, which is included in this year’s defense spending bill.

“The path to getting defense authorization and ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ wrapped up this year is narrow, but that path is also crystal clear,” said Servicemembers United Executive Director Alexander Nicholson. “There is neither time nor any good reason to delay bringing the authorization bill back up for reconsideration, and the first concrete action on the bill absolutely must occur before the Senate’s Thanksgiving recess.”

Reid’s initial attempt to file cloture on DADT failed back in August. Now, with Republicans poised to add to their minority in the Senate come January, the Democrats’ window of opportunity to act is diminishing rapidly. Reid said yesterday that he would prefer to vote on DADT before the end of the year, but hedged a little, reminding reporters that the Senate’s calendar will be busy during the brief session.

“The problem we have with the defense aurhorization bill is that it takes a while to get done,” he said

On December 1, the Pentagon will submit its year-long review of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which is expected to serve as a guide for legislative action. During a news conference at the White House on Wednesday, Obama said the report “will give us time to act, potentially, during the lame-duck session to change this policy.”