CONGRESSMAN PATRICK TIBERI REFUSES TO END OUTDATED, DISCRIMINATORY "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" POLICY
May 28, 2010
Local General Criticizes Tiberi for Putting Politics Before Our Troops
Late last night Congressman Patrick Tiberi (R-OH) voted against an amendment to repeal the military policy of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, which prohibits military service by openly gay men and women. The amendment, offered by Iraq Veteran Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA), was endorsed by President Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and passed with a bi-partisan vote of 234-194. The amendment dismantles the discriminatory policy only after the Pentagon completes its review process and after military leaders certify that repeal would not harm national security or military readiness.
In response to the passage of this landmark amendment Commissioner Paula Brooks, candidate for Congress in Ohio’s 12th District, said, “Patriotic men and women who answer our nation’s call to service should never be judged or forced to lie about who they are when putting their lives in harm’s way to defend our freedoms. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is more than misguided policy, it has wasted vast amounts of taxpayer dollars, and it is outright discrimination that our military leaders believe must end. That Pat Tiberi refuses to take a stand and put an end to patriotic Americans being discharged from our military is disappointing.”
Retired Army Major General Dennis Laich of Powell, Ohio criticized Congressman Tiberi’s vote saying, “For Pat Tiberi, a sitting Member of Congress who has never served a day in the military, to deny brave patriots the opportunity to openly pursue military service simply because of their sexual preference, which is protected in every other institution in our country, is a disservice not only to every man and woman serving in our military, but to all Americans across our nation.”
In 2000, Paula Brooks was appointed by Secretary of Defense William Cohen as a 3-star civilian advisor on the federal Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) where she advised the Department of Defense on troop readiness and military families.
