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The Military Readiness Enhancement Act was a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in several sessions between 2005 and 2009. It would have amended title 10, United States Code to include a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, replacing the policy known as "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT), which banned disclosing one's homosexuality while serving in the Armed Forces.
The bill remained stalled in committee each time it was introduced. In 2010, its backers succeeded in repealing DADT effective September 2011, without establishing a nondiscrimination policy.
Rep. Marty Meehan introduced the legislation in the 109th on March 2, 2005, and 110th Congress on March 28, 2007. Rep. Ellen Tauscher introduced it in the 111th Congress on March 3, 2009. Patrick Murphy took over the sponsorship of the legislation after Tauscher's resignation in June 2009. [1]
The 2005 bill had 122 cosponsors and the 2007 bill had 149 cosponsors. They were both referred to the House Committee on Armed Services and the Subcommittee on Military Personnel but failed to advance. The 2009 bill had 192 cosponsors as of April 22, 2010, and was referred to the House Committee on Armed Services and the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. [2] The 192 cosponsors in the House of Representatives included 190 Democrats and two Republicans, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Joseph Cao.
Congress | Short title | Bill number(s) | Date introduced | Sponsor(s) | # of cosponsors | Latest status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
111th Congress | Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009 | S. 3065 | August 5, 2009 | Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) | 33 | Referred the Armed Services Committee |
H.R. 1283 | March 3, 2009 | Ellen Tauscher (D-CA); Patrick Murphy (D-PA) | 192 | Referred to Subcommittee on Military Personnel | ||
110th Congress | Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2007 | H.R. 1246 | March 28, 2007 | Marty Meehan (D-MA) | 149 | |
109th Congress | Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2005 | H.R. 1059 | March 2, 2005 | 122 |
Supporters of the repeal wanted Congress to eliminate the policy with the 2010 defense authorization bill in April 2009. [3] In July 2009, Patrick Murphy announced a "Voices of Honor" tour with the Human Rights Campaign to increase awareness of his non-discrimination bill. [1] On October 16, 2009, The Hill reported that Congressional leaders expected the repeal of DADT to pass in early 2010. [4] President Barack Obama stated that if passed by Congress, he would sign a bill repealing DADT. [1]
On March 3, 2010, Sen. Joseph Lieberman introduced the legislation, now called the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010, in the Senate with original cosponsors including Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, Mark Udall of Colorado, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Roland Burris of Illinois, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Barbara Boxer of California, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, and Dianne Feinstein of California. [5] Nine more Senate Democrats announced their support on March 9. [6]
The House of Representatives voted 234–194 to add language based on the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, the Murphy amendment, to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 2011 on May 27, 2010. [7] On September 21, 2010, John McCain led a successful (56 in favor, 43 opposed) filibuster against ending Senate debate on the Defense Authorization Act. [8] Following additional legislative maneuvering, [9] Murphy introduced the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, which eliminated the policy without prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, on December 10, and Sens. Lieberman and Susan Collins introduced it in the Senate, [10] The House passed it on a vote of 250 to 175 on December 15, 2010, [11] and the Senate passed it by a vote of 65–31 on December 18, 2010. [12]
"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December 21, 1993, and was in effect from February 28, 1994, until September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. This relaxation of legal restrictions on service by gays and lesbians in the armed forces was mandated by United States federal law Pub.L. 103–160, which was signed November 30, 1993. The policy prohibited people who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because their presence "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability".
Ellen O'Kane Tauscher was an American businesswoman, diplomat, and Democratic Party politician who was the U.S. representative for California's 10th congressional district from 1997 to 2009. From 2009 to 2012, she served as the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs. She then served as Special Envoy for Strategic Stability and Missile Defense at the State Department.
John Barry Larson is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for Connecticut's 1st congressional district since 1999. The district is based in the state capital, Hartford. A member of the Democratic Party, Larson chaired the House Democratic Caucus during the 111th and 112th United States Congress.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation or, depending on the version of the bill, gender identity, by employers with at least 15 employees.
Richard Mauze Burr is an American businessman and politician who is the senior United States senator from North Carolina, serving since 2005. A member of the Republican Party, Burr was previously a member of the United States House of Representatives.
Charles Wieder Dent is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district from 2005 to 2018.
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The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal to grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to illegal immigrants who entered the United States as minors—and, if they later satisfy further qualifications, they would attain permanent residency.
Patrick Joseph Murphy is an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd United States Under Secretary of the Army. He was the first veteran of the Iraq War to be elected to the United States House of Representatives, representing Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district from 2007 to 2011. Murphy is a former anchor of Taking the Hill on MSNBC. Murphy is currently a Senior Managing Director at Ankura Consulting in Philadelphia and the Distinguished Chair of Innovation at the United States Military Academy.
Christopher Scott Murphy is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Connecticut since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Connecticut's 5th congressional district from 2007 to 2013. Before being elected to Congress, Murphy was a member of both chambers of the Connecticut General Assembly, serving two terms each in the Connecticut House of Representatives (1999–2003) and the Connecticut Senate (2003–2007).
Joe Lieberman is an American politician, having served as a United States Senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently he is an Independent.
William Joseph Posey is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 8th congressional district, in Congress since 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he formerly served in the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives.
Staff Sergeant Eric Fidelis Alva is the first Marine seriously injured in the Iraq War. On March 21, 2003, he was in charge of 11 Marines in a supply unit when he stepped on a land mine and lost his right leg.
Jared Schutz Polis is an American politician and businessman, serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since January 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as the United States representative from Colorado's 2nd congressional district from 2009 to 2019. He was the only Democratic member of the libertarian conservative Liberty Caucus, and was the third-wealthiest member of the United States Congress, with an estimated net worth of $122.6 million. He was elected governor of Colorado in 2018, defeating Republican nominee Walker Stapleton.
The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act or the DPBO Act is a piece of United States legislation that would allow LGBT federal employees to give their unrecognized same-sex spouses and partners health insurance, life insurance, government pensions, and other employment related benefits and obligations that married heterosexual federal employees enjoy by being married and heterosexual.
The Respect for Marriage Act, abbreviated as RFMA, is a proposed bill in the United States Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and require the U.S. federal government to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages in the United States. Its first version in 2009 was supported by former U.S. Representative Bob Barr, the original sponsor of DOMA, and former President Bill Clinton, who signed DOMA in 1996. The administration of President Barack Obama also supported RFMA.
The United States military formerly excluded gay men, bisexuals, and lesbians from service. In 1993, the United States Congress passed, and President Bill Clinton signed a law instituting the policy commonly referred to as "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) which allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to serve as long as they did not reveal their sexual orientation. Although there were isolated instances in which service personnel were met with limited success through lawsuits, efforts to end the ban on openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual people serving either legislatively, or through the courts initially proved unsuccessful.
The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 is a landmark United States federal statute enacted in December 2010 that established a process for ending the "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy, thus allowing gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to serve openly in the United States Armed Forces. It ended the policy in place since 1993 that allowed them to serve only if they kept their sexual orientation secret and the military did not learn of their sexual orientation, which was controversial.
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