'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Gone in 2010: Frank

A provision repealing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy will be included in the 2010 defense authorization bill, Rep. Barney Frank says. The authorization would see debate and a vote in spring and summer, and go into effect in October. “'Don’t ask, don’t tell' was always going to be part of the military authorization,” Frank tells the Advocate. “The administration is totally committed.”

Frank noted that earlier this year, defense chief Robert Gates implied that repeal of the measure was uncertain. “There was a point where Gates said, ‘If we repeal don’t ask, don’t tell,’ and the next day he said, 'When we repeal don’t ask, don’t tell,’” said Frank. “That’s because Rahm called him up. The White House has been consistently committed.” (More Obama administration stories.)