'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Here to Stay: Graham

Lame duck session will sit on the issue, says senator
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 29, 2010 2:24 AM CST
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Here to Stay: Graham
South Carolin Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham wits on the Senate Armed Forces Committee, which is holding hearings on the controversial military "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The military's controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays isn't going away anytime soon, predicts South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. "There is no groundswell of opposition coming from our military. I don’t think there’s anywhere near the votes to repeal DADT on the Republican side,” said Graham, who backs the law barring gays from serving openly in the military. “I think in the lame-duck session DADT isn’t going anywhere.”

Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee that is holding hearings on the policy this week, is regarded as a key spokesman for the GOP on military affairs, though it's not clear if he accurately represents his party's position on the policy, notes the Huffington Post. Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, who appeared with Graham on Fox News Sunday when he made his comments, said gays have been serving in the military for years, and the US armed forces remain the best in the world.
(More gays in the military stories.)

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