Gay Republicans Welcome DADT Repeal

R. Clarke Cooper, The Executive Director for the gay conservative group the Log Cabin Republicans, issued the following statement Saturday praising the Senate’s approval of a bill to repeal DADT.

“This is an historic day, not just for gay and lesbian servicemembers, but for all Americans,” Cooper, an out member of the Army Reserve said. “Today the Senate voted, with strong Republican support, to finally end a policy which has burdened our armed services for far too long, depriving our nation of the talent, training and hardwon battle experience of thousands of patriotic Americans.  Soon, the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who sacrifice so much to defend our freedom will be able t o enjoy those same freedoms equally, without regard to sexual orientation.  Log Cabin Republicans is proud to have played a role in this victory, and we thank our allies in Congress, without whom repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ would not have been possible.”

Pelosi Honors Holbrooke

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) honored recently deceased diplomat Richard Holbrooke on the House floor Friday.

“With the passing of Ambassador Holbrooke, our country has lost a brilliant and respected diplomat, but his life and his legacy will continue to affect our search for peace in the world, resolution of conflict, improving relationships among countries, having a values-based American foreign policy,” Pelosi said.

The Speaker’s comments came as the House pursued an official resolution commemorating the ambassador.

Holbrooke, the special envoy to Afghanistan, died Monday after undergoing surgery for a torn aorta. He was 69.

Powell Backs START

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell urged the Senate Wednesday to ratify the START Treaty.

Speaking from the White House’s Oval Office, Powell cast the disarmament agreement between Russia and the U.S. as the continuation of a decades long process.

Powell’s remarks came before a closed-door meeting with President Obama and Vice President Biden. According to the White House, the two were scheduled to discuss the treaty as well as ways to decrease drop-out rates among students.

Pentagon Notes

From Monday’s press gaggle with Pentagon spokesperson Col. Dave Lapan. 

WikiLeaks

In light of the recent leaks, there have been a number of precautions taken to ensure future documents aren’t taken from the military’s database and published.

These include a monitoring system to detect when large amounts of documents are taken as well as additional restrictions on personnel’s ability to store information on thumb-drives or disks.

As far as specific content in the leaked cables, the Pentagon is withholding comment.

DADT

The report on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell will be made public tomorrow, although the specific time has not been announced.

A copy of the report will be sent to the Hill as well in preparation for a series of hearings.

Leahy Applauds DOJ Action Against Counterfeiting

Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement Monday following Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement of increased efforts to crack down on sites that sell or illegally distribute counterfeit goods or copyrighted material.

“The Obama administration’s commitment to aggressively protect American intellectual property is commendable.

Today’s announcement that the Department of Justice and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have seized the domain names associated with rogue websites, which were being used for criminal infringement and counterfeiting operations, demonstrates that commitment. 

The innovative use of the tools currently available to law enforcement to seize these domain names is similar to the remedy that would be specifically authorized under the bipartisan Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act for websites that are registered in the United States. 

That legislation received unanimous support from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which advanced the bill to the full Senate by a vote of 19-0.  We can no longer sit on the sidelines while American intellectual property is stolen and sold online using our own infrastructure.  This costs American jobs, hurts our economy, and puts consumers at risk.”