Washington, D.C. – Congressman Jim Moran, Northern Virginia Democrat released the following statement on the one-year anniversary of the end of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy:
“Today, we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the end of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, ensuring no American must hide or lie about who they are in order to defend our nation. True to America’s cornerstone values of fairness and equality, the end of DADT marked yet another occasion in our country’s history where a fundamental wrong was recognized and a more free, just and inclusive course was charted.
“When DADT was repealed, many in opposition predicted catastrophic damage to our military readiness and lamented that the achievement was a sad day for our nation. But a report released this month proved those fears to be unfounded and wrong. The truth is that our military, just like our nation as a whole, is far stronger when each individual is valued and treated with dignity.
“The end of DADT marked a moment of true progress for our nation. Though the cloud of DADT has lifted, gay and lesbian servicemembers are not provided with full military benefits and far too often face discriminatory treatment under U.S. law upon return from deployment. While our troops continue to promote our American values of equality and freedom abroad, let us recommit ourselves to promoting these same ideals to all our citizens at home.”
As a senior member on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, Rep. Moran was a leading voice in Congress to overturn the discriminatory policy that had been law since 1993. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was overturned through legislation in Congress on December 15, 2010, signed into law by President Obama on December 22, 2010. Following a certification process conducted by Secretary of Defense, DADT came to a historic end on September 20, 2011.
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