'Don't ask': House OKs repeal, Senate votes next

(12-15) 04:00 PST Washington - --

The House passed a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on open gays and lesbians in the military on Wednesday, breathing new life into the effort to end the 17-year-old policy this year. The legislation passed by a 250-175 vote.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, engineered the dramatic turnaround as one of her last acts leading the House, adopting a special parliamentary maneuver that reduces from two to one the number of filibuster threats the legislation faces in the Senate and allows it to be brought up at any moment.

The tactic saves time in the waning days of the outgoing Congress, where the lifespan of the repeal effort is counted in hours. It also puts pressure on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to fulfill a long-standing pledge by President Obama, repeated in his State of the Union address almost a year ago, to repeal the Clinton-era ban.

Breaking ranks

Repeal supporters insisted they have the 60 Senate votes they need, and maybe more, to defeat a Republican filibuster.

They are relying on public commitments from Maine Republican Sens. Susan Collins, who broke ranks with her party on a repeal vote last week, and Olympia Snowe, who said Wednesday she would vote yes; and Scott Brown of Massachusetts or Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Brown and Murkowski issued statements this month that cited an exhaustive 10-month Pentagon study, released Nov. 30, that said repeal would not harm the military.

A handful of moderate GOP senators are also considered possible yes votes.

Stand-alone repeal

But all these Republicans, with the exception of Collins, contributed to the meltdown of the repeal effort last week when they voted to block consideration of the defense bill to which repeal was attached.

One Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, voted against repeal last week, The 57-40 final tally indicated that repeal needs three Republican votes to pass.

Reid had called the vote on the defense bill, which included the repeal bill, knowing it would fail. The move took Collins and Joe Lieberman, independent-Conn., who had been negotiating with Republicans, by surprise. But they immediately introduced a stand-alone repeal.

The House version is identical, so if the bill clears the Senate, it would be enacted with Obama's signature.

Reid promised this week to bring the stand-alone repeal to a vote and threatened, if necessary, to call the Senate back to work after Christmas to finish its remaining work.

That includes two giant pieces of legislation - the START arms control treaty with Russia and a spending bill to keep the government running after Saturday - that would take precedence over repeal of the gay ban.

The last day the Senate could be in session would be Jan. 4.

The new Congress officially starts Jan. 5, when Republicans will assume the House majority. Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said he will not bring up repeal of the ban as long as the United States is at war.

McCain's filibuster

An aide to Reid confirmed that he is committed to bringing repeal to a vote, but cautioned that passage will require GOP support.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been the main force blocking repeal all year, including a successful filibuster in September. McCain said the Pentagon study was flawed and cited resistance from combat units and their leaders in the Army and Marine Corps.

Pelosi, who fought the ban when it was enacted in 1993, said the policy "contravenes American values."

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, replied that the military itself is "inconsistent with American values" because it denies freedom of speech and other rights. Gohmert said soldiers tell him privately they will refuse to re-enlist if the ban is repealed.

Top brass urge repeal

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, strongly urged Congress to repeal the ban. Mullen argued that it is undermining the integrity of soldiers and the military, while Gates warned that it will be much easier for the Pentagon to implement repeal if Congress acts rather than leaving repeal to inevitable court intervention.

The Obama administration issued a statement saying the Pentagon has officially certified, as the law requires, that implementation "is consistent with the standards of military readiness, military effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention of the Armed Forces."

The administration said congressional repeal would allow implementation "under terms and a timetable that would be informed by the advice of our military leadership," adding that the Pentagon study "shows that overwhelming majorities of our service members are prepared to serve with Americans who are openly gay or lesbian."

E-mail Carolyn Lochhead at clochhead@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 21 of the San Francisco Chronicle