Asked if he is concerned by results that indicate nearly 264,600 military personnel would leave the military if the “Don't Ask Don't Tell” policy forbidding openly gay service members is repealed, Defense Secretary Robert Gates responded that he doesn’t "expect the numbers would be anything like what the survey suggests." In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee Dec. 2, he said, "if I believed that a quarter of a million people would leave the military immediately, if given the opportunity, I would certainly have second thoughts about this," adding, “I don't believe that." Gates noted that service members are bound by enlistment contracts, even if they want to leave, which may "mitigate" the effect though the actual experience of “serving with gays and lesbians." Despite similar survey results in Britain and Canada, Gates said the numbers leaving “were far smaller than the surveys had indicated." He did not question the survey's overall validity, rejecting only the retention findings. (Gates
prepared remarks)
The decision whether to repeal the Pentagon's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy must not be left to the courts, asserted Defense Secretary Robert Gates. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee Dec. 2, Gates called on the Senate to pass a bill overturning the ban on declared homosexuals serving in the military before year's end. Gates said it is "only a matter of time" before federal courts again intervene over DADT, bringing the "very real possibility that this change would be imposed immediately by judicial fiat.” The Defense Secretary said that would be "by far the most disruptive and damaging scenario" imaginable for morale and combat readiness. Gates called potential repeal of the policy "a matter for the Congress to decide," stating that any change should be made by the representatives elected by the American people, and should allow adequate time for "a well prepared and well considered implementation." (Gates prepared remarks)