The bill to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” cleared a US Senate hurdle today and now heads toward a final vote next week.
Republicans Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Mark Kirk, George Voinovich, Scott Brown and Lisa Murkowski joined Democrats on the vote. Four senators — Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va.) – did not vote.
Brown and Kirk are both military men.
CBS News reported:
The Senate today overcame a Republican-led filibuster to move forward with consideration of a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” essentially ensuring that the 17-year-old policy of barring gays from serving openly in the military will come to an end.
After multiple failed attempts to pass the repeal, hearings on the issue and reviewing an exhaustive Pentagon study on the matter, the Senate voted 63 to 33 to move the bill forward. The Senate must take one more vote to officially pass the repeal; only a majority vote is needed for the bill’s official passage.
Once the Senate takes that final vote, the bill will go to President Obama to be signed into law. The House passed its version of the bill on Wednesday.