Washington, D.C. – After a federal judge in California ruled the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy unconstitutional, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand issued the following statement:
“Judge Phillips’ ruling is a major step forward for our efforts to repeal this immoral and harmful policy. I strongly hope that the ruling of this policy as unconstitutional will stand and that the Department of Justice will eventually choose not to appeal. President Obama has been an outspoken advocate for repeal and it would send a strong message if his justice department were to choose not to appeal. The decision should also serve as a call to action for Congress to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’
“Every American, no matter who you are or what you believe, has the God-given right to defend our country. No politician should rightly or lawfully stand in the way of that. Every U.S. Senator took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Now it’s time to do just that.
“I am confident that we can bring the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ up for a vote on the Senate floor in the coming weeks, and I urge all of my colleagues to abide by the oath we all took, and end this policy that tears America’s moral fabric and hurts our military readiness.”