Senate Proceeding on Dec 18th, 2010 :: 0:29:00 to 0:34:50
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0:28:57 to 0:29:17( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: forward to being with all of you mr. president, i yield the fl the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: let me thank the senator from oregon for his powerful statement and his powerful presence, and we look forward to 110% of that power being back with us in the days ahead. mr. president, the armed services committee held two excellent hearings to consider

0:29:00 to 0:34:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Carl Levin

0:29:18 to 0:29:38( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: the final report of the working group that reviewed the issues associated with the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. that report concluded that allowing gay and lesbian troops to serve in the united states armed forces without being forced to conceal their sexual orientation would present a low risk to the military's

0:29:39 to 0:29:59( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: effectiveness even during a time of war and that 70% of the surveyed members believe that the impact on their units would be positive, mixed or of no consequence. as one service member told a working group -- quote -- "all i care about is can you carry a gun and can you walk the post?" and in combat, mr. president,

0:30:00 to 0:30:20( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: the troops have told us that what matters is doing the job. now, we learned also during the course of our hearing that while predictions of problems after repeal were higher in combat units than among other troops, that this committee -- this commission found that the difference disappeared among

0:30:21 to 0:30:41( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: those who had actual experience serving on the front lines with gay colleagues. that is, experience is a powerful antidote to negative stereotypes about gay service members. and we learned that our close allies, great britain and canada, were preparing to allow

0:30:42 to 0:31:02( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: open service by gay -- when they were preparing to allow open service by gay and lesbian troops, that there were concerns about problems there. those concerns which totally disappeared after they changed their policy to allow service, those concerns, that level of

0:31:03 to 0:31:24( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: concerns in our allies' armies was higher than the current level of concern in our troops. both of those countries, other allies like israel, made the transition with far less disruption than expected, and their militaries serve alongside ours in afghanistan with no sign

0:31:25 to 0:31:47( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: that open service diminishes their or our effectiveness. secretary gates has assured everybody that he is not going to certify that the military is ready for repeal until he is satisfied with the advice of the service chiefs.

0:31:48 to 0:32:09( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: that we had, in fact, mid gated if not eliminated to the extent possible risks to combat readiness to unit cohesion and effectiveness. we learned that secretary gates, admiral mullen and other senior military leaders are concerned that unless we pass this law, without this legislation, that they're going to be forced to

0:32:10 to 0:32:31( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: implement a change in policy, not when they can certify that they are ready, as provided for in this legislation, but when a court orders a change. the only method of repeal that places the timing of repeal and the control of implementation in the hands of our military

0:32:32 to 0:32:54( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: leaders is the enactment of this bill. so there's a lot of reasons why repeal of don't ask, don't tell can a and we know what happened without harming our military's effectiveness. now, that's the reasons why we can do this safely, but there are other reasons why we must

0:32:55 to 0:33:15( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: end this discriminatory policy. a policy which in admiral mullen's words, memorable words -- quote -- "forces young men and women to lie," to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. we should end this policy because it's the right thing to do.

0:33:16 to 0:33:36( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: some have argued that this is social engineering or this is partisan, even though this change is supported by the overwhelming majority of the american people, and they are grossly mistaken. mr. president, how much time do i have remaining? the presiding officer: one minute. mr. levin: mr. president, i'm

0:33:37 to 0:33:58( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: not here for partisan reasons. i'm here because men and women wearing the uniform of the united states who are gay and lesbian have died for this country because gay and lesbian men and women wearing the uniform of this country have their lives on the line right now in afghanistan and iraq and other places for this country.

0:33:59 to 0:34:20( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: one of those is a captain by the name of jonathan hopkins. he finished fourth in his class at west point, commanded two companies, one in combat, earned three bronze stars, including one for valor in combat, and yet that decorated combat leader had to leave the army because of don't ask, don't tell.

0:34:21 to 0:34:41( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: i'm here because of staff sergeant eric alva, the first ground unit casualty of the war in iraq, the first casualty in the war in iraq was a gay soldier. the mine took off his right leg, and that mine that took off his right leg didn't give a darn whether he was gay or straight.

0:34:42 to 0:34:50( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: we shouldn't either. we cannot let these patriots down. their suffering should end.