Don't ask, don't tell

"The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, Senator, we ought to change the policy, then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it."

"There is no evidence that wounded troops care about the sexual orientation of the flight nurse or medical technician tending to their wounds."

"Mr. President, this November marks 10 years since our Nation imposed the discriminatory law known as "Dont Ask, Dont Tell" on the lesbian, gay, and bisexual patriots of our Nation. During the past decade, almost 10,000 men and women have been fired from our Armed Forces simply because of their sexual orientation."

"At this moment of immense hardship for our armed services, we should not be seeking to overturn the dont ask, dont tell policy."

"I fully support the presidents decision."

"It is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. … I cannot escape being troubled in the fact that we have in place a policy that forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, personally, it comes down to integrity. Theirs as individuals and ours as an institution."