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Senator Reid Fails to Negotiate in Good Faith, Kills 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal

December 9, 2010

(Washington, DC) – Log Cabin Republicans are deeply disappointed by the Senate Majority Leader's choice to invoke cloture on the National Defense Authorization Act without coming to an agreement on the amendment process, effectively locking Republicans out of the debate.

"There is no other way to describe it – today Senator Reid torpedoed repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'" said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director. "Despite heroic efforts by Senator Susan Collins to craft a fair and reasonable process for debating one of the most important bills addressed by Congress every year, Senator Reid chose to turn his back on days of negotiation in favor of blaming Republicans for his failures. Today could have been a day of celebration for all Americans who support our servicemembers to serve both honorably and honestly. Instead, brave men and women will continue to serve under a failed and unconstitutional policy that has been firmly rejected by the American people, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Log Cabin Republicans are angered and disappointed, but we are fully committed to continuing the fight against 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' by whatever means necessary. We are tremendously grateful to Senator Collins for her efforts, and look forward to the day when together we will see this statute erased.

"In a statement on the floor in which she passionately described her support for repeal and efforts at negotiating with the Majority Leader, Senator Collins noted that she believed the Senate was on a path to success, and that she, along with Senator Joe Lieberman, was working in good faith on a compromise which would have ended 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' and the Majority Leader's response was to guarantee failure instead of meeting in the middle."

Log Cabin Republicans have maintained a three-front strategy against 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' lobbying for repeal in Congress, consulting with the Department of Defense, and filing suit in federal court. The case went to trial in July of 2010, and Judge Virginia Phillips ruled on September 9, 2010 that the policy violated the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution.