To follow up on the great diaries of Clarknt67 and JPMassar from this morning, I wanted to provide another easy way for Kossacks to contact their senators about repealing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Law (DADT). As many of you know, the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) will be considering whether to take action on repealing the unfair Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy within about a week. The time to act is now. It is imperative that we show our support of this repeal today. Please join us.
Before I give some of the key info, I should say that I'm writing this diary because of a personal connection. I have a friend who left the military because he's frustrated by the homophobic attitudes he found there. He tells me - he'd re-enlist if it wasn't for the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law, which perpetuates ingrained homophobia. The thing is - The Don't Ask, Don't Tell law is preventing good people, like my friend, from working in the military. This law is hurting our troops because some of the best workers are being cast out merely because of who they love. It's time to change this law.
One of the groups that's working on the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell is Equal Rights Washington. Since yesterday was Veterans Lobby Day, Equal Rights Washington coordinated an action-effort to encourage people to contact Senators, Representatives and the President of the United States. You can use their tool, in the prior link. Also, you'll find some helpful talking points below, as well as a means to contact the most important Senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
We need every voice for this repeal to happen. Please stand with us. Please stand up for justice, equality and the freedom of expression. Please make your voice heard by contacting your representatives. The group Equal Rights Washington gives us these talking points -
Delaying another year means the daily firing of even more service members merely because they are gay. "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is employment discrimination and there is no place for it anywhere in the U.S. government.
Nearly 800 specialists with critical skills have been fired from the U.S. military under DADT, including more than 300 linguists, at least 60 of whom specialized in Arabic.
More than 66,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans are already protecting our homeland (Urban Institute report). More than 13,500 have been discharged under DADT since the law was enacted in 1993.
Since its inception DADT has cost the military between $290 million and more than a half a billion dollars.
Lifting DADT restrictions could attract an estimated 36,700 men and women to active duty service and 12,000 more individuals to the National Guard and Reserve. The military spends an estimated $22,000 to $43,000 per person to replace those discharged under DADT.
Since the begining of the Iraq War the military has eased other recruitment requirements, including age, intelligence and moral standards. While convicted felons have received "moral waivers" to serve in the Armed Forces, open homosexuality remains a barrier to enlistment.
Our military allies’ experiences show that open service works. At least 28 countries, and 20 of the 26 NATO nations, including Great Britain, Australia, Canada and Israel, already allow open service by lesbian and gay troops, and none report morale or recruitment problems. The United States, Turkey, Greece and Portugal are the only NATO nations that forbid lesbians and gays to serve openly in the Armed Services.
To help with contacting the most important Senators in this process, another dedicated Kossack, ClarkKnt67 has been organizing a spectacular series, called Letters to the President. In those, he's given some great info, such as how we can contact these 11 key senators. Here's an edited version:
The following contacts will help you to reach the 11 Crucial Senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee. This also shows how the votes are likely to fall. The term "SP" denotes sponsor, "++" denotes they are on the record as supportive of repeal, "+" denotes positive indicator, and if they're not listed as any of those, they need special attention. Please thank the supporters of the repealtoo, we don't know how many conservatives may be working the other side.
* SENATOR MARK BEGICH (++) of ALASKA - E-mail
202-224-3004
907-271-5915 907-456-0261 907-586-7700
Peterson Tower, Suite 750, 510 L St, Anchorage, AK, 99501
* SENATOR MARK UDALL (SP) of COLORADO - E-mail
202-224-5941
303-650-7820 719-471-3993 970-356-5586 970-245-9553
999 18th St, Suite 1525, North Tower Denver, CO 80202
* SENATOR JOE LIEBERMAN (SP) of CONNECTICUT - E-mail
202-224-4041
860.549.8463
One Constitution Plaza 7th Floor, Hartford, CT 06103
* SENATOR TED KAUFMAN (??) of DELAWARE - E-mail
202-224-5042
302-573-6345 302-424-8090
1105 N. Market St., Suite 2000, Wilmington, DE 19801-1233
* SENATOR BILL NELSON (??) of FLORIDA - E-mail
202-224-5274
1-888-671-4091 305-536-5999 813-225-7040 850-942-8415
US Court House Annex 111, North Adams Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32301
* SENATOR DANIEL AKAKA (+) of HAWAII - E-mail
202-224-6361
808-522-8970 808-935-1114
300 Ala Moana Blvd., Rm. 3-106, Box 50144, Honolulu, HI 96850
* SENATOR ROLAND BURRIS (sp) of ILLINOIS - E-mail
202-224-2854
312-886-3506 Phone: 217-492-5089 309-736-1217 618-529-7471
607 East Adams, Suite 1520 Springfield, IL 62701
* SENATOR EVAN BAYH (??) of INDIANA - E-mail
202-224-5623
317-554-0750 812-465-6500 260-426-3151 219-852-2763
1650 Market Tower, 10 West Market St., Indianapolis, IN 46204
* SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS (+) of MAINE - E-mail
202-224-2523
207-622-8414 207-945-0417 207-780-3575
One Canal Plazam, Suite 802, Portland, ME 04101
* SENATOR SCOTT BROWN (+) of MASSACHUSETTS - E-mail
202-224-4543
617-565-3170
2400 JFK Federal Building, 55 New Sudbury Street, Boston, MA 02203
* SENATOR CARL LEVIN (SP) of MICHIGAN - E-mail
202-224-6221
313-226-6020 906-789-0052 989-754-2494 616-456-2531
107 Cass Street Suite E Traverse City, MI 49684-2602
* SENATOR CLAIRE MCCASKILL (++) of MISSOURI - E-mail
202-224-6154
573-442-7130 816-421-1639 314-367-1364
5850 A Delmar Blvd, Ste. A, St. Louis, MO 63112
* SENATOR KAY HAGAN (++) of NORTH CAROLINA - E-mail
202-224-6342
1-877-852-9462 336-333-5311 919-856-4630 704-334-2448
701 Green Valley Rd, Suite 201, Greensboro, NC 27408
* SENATOR BEN NELSON (-) of NEBRASKA -E-mail
202-224-6551
402-391-3411 402-441-4600 402-209-3595 308-293-5818
7602 Pacific St. Ste 205 Omaha, NE 68114
* SENATOR JEFF BINGAMAN (SP) of NEW MEXICO - E-mail
202-224-5521
800-443-8658 505-346-6601
Suite 130, 625 Silver Avenue, SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
* SENATOR JACK REED (++) of RHODE ISLAND - E-mail
202-224-4642
800284-4200 401-943-3100 401-528-5200
000 Chapel View Boulevard, Suite 290, Cranston, RI 02920
* SENATOR JIM WEBB (?? ) of VIRGINIA - E-mail
202-224-4024
804-771-2221 276-679-4925 757-518-1674 540-772-4236
507 East Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23219
* SENATOR ROBERT BYRD (-) of WEST VIRGINIA - E-mail
202-224-3954
304-342-5855 304-264-4626
300 Virginia Street, East Suite 2630, Charleston, WV
* SENATOR LINDSAY GRAHAM (-) of SOUTH CAROLINA - E-mail
202-224-5972
803-933-0112 864-250-1417 803-366-2828
508 Hampton Street, Suite 202, Columbia, SC
Please also consider contacting these key figures (below). As the leadership of the Democratic Party, they need to hear our voices too. Thanks for all the work you're doing to make this happen.
* U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - E-mail
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-0100
* U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid - E-mail
522 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-3542
Fax: 202-224-7327
Toll Free for Nevadans:
1-866-SEN-REID (736-7343)
* President Barack Obama - E-mail
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461