UPDATE 12:54 PM: Mr. Kinzinger just called Illinois Review to object to the way his answer below was presented.
"I have made it very clear that I'm opposed to the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' but I do find it amazing that Congress voted on the issue before the Pentagon's report has been published," he said via phone. "You write that there's confusion about the working group's purpose, but Robert Gates has stated they are looking at how lifting the ban would effect military morale. I think that report could be key to the direction Congress should take."
Republican candidate for Congress in the 11th CD Adam Kinzinger's in active Air Force Reserves, flying jets on Iraqi and Afghanistan missions within the past year. Rather than outright condemn Democratic incumbent Debbie Halvorson's vote to repeal the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding sexual behavior preferences, he responded through campaign spokesman Brad Hahn, saying yesterday's House vote was "premature."
Adam believes last night’s House vote was pre-mature and that Congress should hold off on any action until the Pentagon Working Group issues its report later this year.
The Pentagon Working Group Kinzinger refers to consists of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen staffers, who established the working group following a Feb. 2 hearing on Capitol Hill as a way to examine how to implement an end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” should Congress repeal the law. The work is expected to be completed Dec. 1.
Gay right activist Alex Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, reported in an April 2010 edition of The Washington Blade that his organization has had a positive engagement with the DADT working group since its inception.
“They brought us in — in the very beginning — to initially brief us on what they were planning to do, to answer any questions we had,” he said. “They were very open and inclusive, but not only to us. They were that way with our opposition as well.”
According to The Blade, there's lack of clarity about the purpose of the working group. Nicholson says the group's mission is to make recommendations about the implementation of the repeal while some mistakenly think the working group is discussing whether or not the ban on gays should be lifted.
Gay activist Nathaniel Frank explained in The Blade:
“I think the reason for that confusion is while the group says it’s studying how to lift the ban, given the strategic intention of the president, whether the ban is actually lifted is in the hands of the Congress,” Frank said. “So if the group comes out with a study that exaggerates the risks to cohesion, or other risks associated with lifting the ban, obviously, that will make it easier for obstructionists in Congress to try to block repeal.”
If the Senate agrees with the House's vote Thursday, Congress will authorize lifting the military ban on soldiers based on their sexual preferences and the Pentagon working group's recommendations will be considered on the implementation of Congress' instructions.
Waiting on the Pentagon's report will have been irrelevant, despite Kinzinger's comment that a Congressional vote before the report is released is "premature."
What the people of the 11th CD want to know is whether a Congressman Kinzinger would have voted Yes or No yesterday. Either way, he wasn't willing to share his thoughts with Illinois Review readers. [See above UPDATE]
We report, you decide.
