New York Senator Kristen Gillibrand has
praised Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for his work on repeal of
“Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the 1993 law that bans gay and bisexual
troops from serving openly.
Gillibrand made her remarks during an
appearance on ABC's The View.
“On 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' it was
Harry Reid who very early on wrote a letter to the president, said,
'We want you to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' And that really set
us up for the president to put it in his State of the Union address.
It allowed for ... Chairman [Carl] Levin agreed immediately to hold a
hearing.”
“And so we were able to create the
testimony and record to repeal that very corrosive policy,”
Gillibrand added.
Gillibrand was among the first senators
to co-sponsor the stand-alone repeal bill that was ultimately
approved by the Senate.
Former New York Governor David Paterson
appointed the 44-year-old Gillibrand to take over the seat previously
held by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Voters confirmed
Paterson's choice on November 2.
Gillibrand also told her hosts that gay
marriage would be a priority for her.
“I also want to work on marriage
equality,” she said. “I want to make sure that everyone in this
country can be married to the people they love.” (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page.)