Americas

Home page

Americas

"Don’t ask, don’t tell" repeal defeated in US Senate

22 September 2010 00:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The US Senate defeated a bill Tuesday that included a measure to repeal a ban on gays serving openly in the military, with Republicans lining up to block Democrats from bringing the legislation to a final vote, APA reports quoting Earth Times.
The Senate voted 56-43 in favour of advancing a 725.7-billion- dollar defence spending policy bill that contained the repeal, but fell four votes short of the 60 needed under Senate rules to move toward a final vote.
The vote was a defeat for President Barack Obama, who campaigned on repealing the ban. The Pentagon in February announced its intention to scrap the 1993 "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy, which allowed gays to serve in the military as long as they didn’t reveal their sexual preference. Repealing the law requires congressional approval.
Several Republican senators said they support ending the policy but opposed Tuesday’s bill because Democrats limited their ability to add amendments and to debate. Maine Senator Susan Collins said she believed the bill should be repealed but objected to the Democratic tactics ahead of November’s legislative elections.