The Senate moved the final vote on repeal of DADT to this afternoon, and it passed !
Here is a blog write-up of what happened during the day:
Quote:
By a vote of 65 to 31 this afternoon, the Senate voted to repeal the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.
Republican Senators Scott Brown, Richard Burr, Susan Collins, John Ensign, Mark Kirk,
Lisa Murkowski, Olympia Snowe and George Voinovich joined Democrats
in the final vote to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
Burr and Ensign did not vote with the Democrats earlier in the day
when the GOP filibuster was broken, but signed on for the final vote.
What happens next: Obama has promised to sign the bill next week, making repeal a true legal reality.
Then the Pentagon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Obama must work out an implementation plan
and officially certify that the military is ready to allow its gay and lesbian
service members to come out of the closet.
Sixty days after that, DADT is "officially" repealed.
Such is the language of the bill the Senate passed today and the House passed earlier in the week.
But repeal could effectively be in place far earlier than that.
Following the cloture vote today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
called on the Pentagon to suspend all DADT discharges and investigations immediately,
something gay rights advocates say Defense Secretary Robert Gates can order whenever he wants.
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Here are some post-vote remarks by Senators: