Brody's Notes... McCain Opposed To Repeal Of DADT Without A Full Study & Hearings

By Brody Levesque (Bethesda, Maryland) NOV 14 | Earlier today on NBC's Meet The Press with David Gregory, Arizona Senator John McCain (R) said that he was opposed to repeal of DADT without a full study on what he termed the full effects on troop morale and battle readiness.

The Senator cited the example of General John Amos, the Marine Corps Commandant, who told reporters in a press briefing in San Diego last Saturday that he remains opposed to allowing Gay & Lesbians to serve openly in the military.

"The pending results of a Pentagon survey of troops and their families will go a long way toward deciding the policy, but repealing it now could have a negative effect on troops in combat, Amos said. "I don't support the repeal right now," he said. "I don't know what the effect will be on combat effectiveness."

"The Marine Corps has 20,000 Marines on the ground right in Afghanistan right now in some pretty serious combat and very tightly focused at a dangerous time on a very dangerous mission."

Amos said he is reviewing the results of that survey and will brief Defense Secretary Robert Gates soon on what he thinks should happen. "I'm trying to determine how to measure the risk," he said.

McCain also told Gregory that he has heard from the other four service chiefs whose opinions he said he deeply respects and that they are either opposed to or have deep reservations about repealing the policy. McCain said that the current "leaked" study was flawed and did not address the issue of effects on the armed services but rather focused on the issue of implementation which the Senator said are two completely different issues.

When asked if the repeal could occur during the upcoming "lame-duck" session McCain said that he didn't think that it should be voted on until hearings could be held on the current survey due to be released on December 1st.

Gregory also questioned Senator McCain about his wife's abrupt reversal of stance on the DADT issue. McCain said that he supports the "1st Amendment Rights" of everyone in his family and refused to elaborate further.