Obama Endorses MREA

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), a candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, has said that as commander-in-chief he will press Congress to pass The Military Readiness Enhancement Act, a bill to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

All this week, candidates responded to a question from the Human Rights Campaign about how, as president, they would work to repeal the law. Senator Obama said, in part, that "As president, I will work with Congress and place the weight of my administration behind enactment of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which will make nondiscrimination the official policy of the U.S. military. I will task the Defense Department and the senior command structure in every branch of the armed forces with developing an action plan for the implementation of a full repeal of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.' And I will direct my Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to develop procedures for taking re-accession requests from those qualified service members who were separated from the armed forces under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and still want to serve their country."

Obama's statement is a strong stance in favor of our men and women in uniform, and welcome news.

You can read the other candidates' responses at HRC Back Story.

- Steve Ralls