WASHINGTON --- The White House and its Senate allies pushed Thursday to scrap a widely unpopular US military ban on gays serving openly, warning the restrictions harm national security and flout civil rights.
"We're going to keep fighting, in the spirit of the American military, until we get the job done," said Independent Senator Joe Lieberman, a leader in the fight to repeal the 1993 policy dubbed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Lieberman acknowledged stiff Republican resistance and a ticking year-end legislative clock, but quoted US civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr's admonition that "the time is always right to do what is right."
Democrats hoped to make the most of a year-end "lame duck" session before their Senate majority shrinks and they turn over the House of Representatives to Republicans in January.
"If we don't get this job done this year, I think it could be years until we have another opportunity," said Democratic Senator Mark Udall. "It's time for 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' to take a hike."
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced late Wednesday that he would move ahead, most likely in December, on an annual military spending bill that includes a measure authorizing the Pentagon to repeal the ban.
The legislation needs 60 votes in ensure the ability to overcome parliamentary delaying tactics, so Democrats and their independent allies will need to gain two Republicans to proceed to a final ballot they are sure to win.
A vote would take place after the Pentagon releases a report, due December 1, laying out a strategy for repeal after surveying US troops and their families to get their thoughts on what would be a seismic shift in policy.
The study, grouping 400,000 active-duty and reserve troops and 150,000 military spouses, reportedly found that 70 percent of respondents said impact from lifting the bad would be "positive, mixed, or non-existent."
The House has already passed legislation authorizing an end to the ban, which Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer warned put the US military at odds with some of its dearest international partners.
"Our brave young men and women fight alongside allies like Australia, the United Kingdom, and others who allow gays and lesbians to serve openly," she said. "Let's not stand with Pakistan, and North Korea and Iran."
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden cited a study that 10 percent of those discharged under the policy were experts in Arabic, Farsi, Chinese and other languages, and warned "there's no way we can win the war on terror" by "frittering away" such talent.
President Barack Obama's defeated Republican White House rival, Senator John McCain, has steadfastly opposed action on the ban at least until the Pentagon report has been made public.
Asked whether he had tried to win over his colleague and friend, Lieberman replied: "I've had discussions. I've had no success."
A new public opinion poll out Thursday found that 58 percent favored scrapping the ban and 38 percent backed the current policy. In military families, the numbers were 55 percent and 38 percent, respectively.
The Quinnipiac University study was the first time the survey had found military families supporting lifting the restrictions.
Other militaries, including US ally Israel, have allowed openly gay troops to serve without reporting major problems.
The top US uniformed officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, has been an outspoken advocate of lifting the ban, condemning it as forcing gay service members to lie about their identity.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates also backs lifting the ban, but General James Amos, the new head of the US Marine Corps, has said he opposes it because he fears it could harm unit cohesion.
Foes of the ban have compared the issue to then-president Harry Truman's 1948 executive order ending racial segregation in the US armed forces.
"As a black American, I know what it is to go through discrimination and unfairness," said Democratic Senator Roland Burris, who holds the seat once held by Obama.
The president has reached out of "dozens" of senators over the past week in favor of repeal, according to a White House official.
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