BILL NUMBER: SJR 9 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 29, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator Kehoe
(Principal coauthor: Senator Leno)
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Ma, and JohnB A.B
Perez)
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Brownley, Evans, Feuer, Jones,
Lieu, Monning, and Salas )
MAY 28, 2009
Relative to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SJR 9, as amended, Kehoe. Military: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
policy.
This measure would urge the Congress and the President of the
United States to adopt the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009
(H.R. 1283), which institutes a policy of nondiscrimination based on
sexual orientation, and to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
policy.
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, Since the 1993 codification into law by the United States
Congress, and by the signature of the President, the policy now
known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass"
(National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (Public Law
103-160)), has led to the discharge of a great number of lesbian and
gay service members, thus ending their careers and burdening them
with a lifelong stigma; and
WHEREAS, The capacity of the Armed Forces of the United States to
carry out its missions is hindered when competent and qualified
individuals are involuntarily discharged from those forces; and
WHEREAS, The Armed Forces of the United States have been forced to
retain Reserve and National Guard service members on active duty
past standard deployment lengths in order to carry out its recent
missions; and
WHEREAS, The ability of the Armed Forces to recruit and retain the
best and brightest Americans is hindered by excluding a section of
the population solely because of sexual orientation; and
WHEREAS, Transgender and transsexual service members are not
specifically banned by "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which addresses only
issues of sexual orientation, but are nonetheless harmed by "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell," because they are often harassed or accused of being
gay or lesbian on the basis of nongender-conforming behavior; and
WHEREAS, Lesbian and gay service members have served honorably
throughout United States history and continue to serve with
distinction on active duty; and
WHEREAS, These men and women have achieved military honors,
decorations, and promotions to the highest ranks of their respective
services for their valor and service to the people of the United
States; and
WHEREAS, At least 24 other nations, including Great Britain,
Australia, Canada, and Israel, allow open service by gays and
lesbians; and
WHEREAS, The Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National
Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Secret Service,
and other federal departments handling national security allow their
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender personnel to serve openly;
and
WHEREAS, There are at least 65,000 gay and lesbian service members
on active duty today and another 1,000,000 gay and lesbian veterans
who have served our nation proudly; and
WHEREAS, More than 13,000 service members have been discharged
under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, including hundreds of
service members in "critical occupations," such as
counterintelligence experts and medical specialists; and
WHEREAS, According to a Government Accountability Office report,
323 language specialists have been discharged from the military under
the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, including 55 Arabic and 9 Farsi
translators, vitally important positions to intelligence gathering
and in critical shortage; and
WHEREAS, American taxpayers have paid between $250 million and
$1.2 billion to investigate, eliminate, and replace qualified and
patriotic service members who want to serve their country but are
dismissed because their sexual orientation violates the "Don't Ask,
Don't Tell" policy; and
WHEREAS, Evidence from a study conducted by the Center for the
Study Of Sexual Minorities in the Military suggests that the "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell" policy increases the stress levels of gay troops,
lowers their morale, impairs their ability to form trusting bonds
with their peers, restricts their access to medical care,
psychological services, and religious consultations, and limits their
ability to advance professionally and their willingness to join and
remain in the services; and
WHEREAS, Every Department of Defense authorized study has shown
that there is no correlation between sexual orientation and unit
cohesion in the Armed Forces; and
WHEREAS, Public opinion polls have found that the majority of
American citizens support keeping trained and skilled openly gay and
lesbian service members in the military and repealing "Don't Ask, Don'
t Tell"; and
WHEREAS, A 2006 study of the Michael D. Palm Center found that
nearly three in four troops say they are personally comfortable in
the presence of gays and lesbians; and
WHEREAS, More than 100 retired generals and admirals have called
for the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"; and
WHEREAS, The readiness of the United States military to protect
and defend our nation is severely compromised because of the
discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that is arbitrarily
enforced by commanders whose personal beliefs may influence their
disciplinary action; and
WHEREAS, Discharges under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy are
historically fewer when troop strength is low, as in times of war,
which denotes the tacit recognition by the military that lesbian and
gay service members are fit and capable of military service, thereby
further illustrating the arbitrary enforcement of this policy; and
WHEREAS, California has 27 military bases that are home to tens of
thousands of military personnel and their families, and, according
to a 2004 Urban Institute study, an estimated 137,000 gay and lesbian
veterans live in California; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature and courts of the State of California
have extended protections based on sexual orientation and gender
identity that affirm the equality under the law of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender residents in order to prevent invidious
discrimination; and
WHEREAS, In 2004 the California Legislature passed, and the
Governor signed, legislation that protects nonfederally recognized
personnel in the California State Militia from the threat of "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell"; and
WHEREAS, In 2005 and 2007 the California Senate resolved, and the
Assembly thereof concurred, that the California Legislature
respectfully urged the President and the United States Congress to
adopt the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2005 (H.R. 1059) and
the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2007 (H.R. 1246),
respectively, to end the discriminatory policy of "Don't Ask, Don't
Tell"; and
WHEREAS, Military readiness is enhanced when every qualified,
capable American, regardless of sexual orientation, is welcomed into
our Armed Forces and has their talents utilized in the best interest
of our national security; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California
respectfully urges the President and the Congress of the United
States to adopt the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R.
1283), reintroduced in the 111th Congress of the United States on
March 3, 2009, by a bipartisan group of 137
186 cosponsors, and the Military Readiness Enhancement Act
of 2010 (S. 3065), introduced in the United States Senate on March
3, 2010, by Senator Joseph Lieberman and 13 cosponsors, to end
the discriminatory federal policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"; and be
it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the President of the United States, to each Senator
and Representative in the Congress of the United States, and to the
presiding officer of each house of each state legislature of the
several states.