MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript

Interview

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The Washington, D.C. city council is considering a bill that would allow same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia. And after President Obama's national security adviser said this weekend that the president would work on repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," quote, "at the right time," Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who has promised the first ever Senate hearings on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," responded immediately by saying, frankly, that the right time is now.

Joining us now is Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York.

Senator, thank you for coming on the show.

SEN. KIRSTEN, GILLIBRAND (D-NY): My pleasure.

MADDOW: Let me ask you, first off, do you know when we should expect a hearing on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell?"

GILLIBRAND: I think we'll have one this fall. And I'm looking forward to trying to have one for the Armed Services Committee probably in October or November.

MADDOW: Holding a hearing is a big step because since the implementation of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," despite all of the controversy, all efforts to repeal it and all of the debate, there's not been a congressional hearing on it. What do you expect to be the outcome of the hearing?

GILLIBRAND: Well, the reason why I asked Chairman Levin to hold the hearing is because I think there's an extraordinary amount of misinformation. And I think the American public, along with our Senate colleagues and House colleagues, need to hear the facts.

This policy has been in place for 16 years. We've lost over 13,000 service members, more than 800 of home are in mission critical areas, about 10 percent of our foreign language speakers in Farsi, in Arabic. And when we have so much pressure on our military, we want all of the best and brightest to be able to be serving.

MADDOW: Do you think that there are Republican senators right now who are licking their chops thinking about the opportunity to talk about a gay rights issue and hearings that will be undoubtedly televised and get a lot of attention? Do you think that Republicans will try to find some political advantage in talking about gay issues in Congress?

GILLIBRAND: They may well, but the facts are that the majority of the American public think repeal should take place. Because the bottom line is that people want the best and brightest in our nation to serve in our military, particularly when we have two wars and we have terrorism concerns all across the world.

And we want these very talented and well-trained individuals to be serving, and so most people want to see a repeal of this policy. It's undermining the strength of our military. It's immoral. It's something that doesn't reflect who we are as Americans. And it's unjust. And I think we have to move forward on this national debate. And I think the facts will speak for themselves and I'm hopeful.

MADDOW: I think that it is persuasive in terms of the argument that's been made to the American people. We've certainly seen the polling numbers move a lot and all of the academic work in terms of the documenting any affect on good order and morale. And the military backs up what you're saying.

But we both know the reason it hasn't been repealed thus far is because Democrats believe it's too hard to do, that costs too much political capital particularly for a president worried about seeming too liberal. Do you think the White House is going to give you substantial support?

GILLIBRAND: I think the White House will support this. I think the president supports it. He certainly has so stated over the last several months and years. It's something that is time. I mean, it's a timely issue that is urgent and it's a call to action.

And I do believe, as we begin to talk about the facts and roll out the evidence, that we will have the support in Congress that we need. And I think there's more support than you think. I think there's a number of senators that are considering their views on this issue. And I think the benefit of a hearing is we will get this evidence out to be debated fully.

MADDOW: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, thanks very much for joining us tonight. Good luck.

GILLIBRAND: Thank you.

MADDOW: In addition to being investigated for his adultery and payoff and illegal lobbying scandal, Republican Senator John Ensign of Nevada also had a very uncomfortable encounter with reporters yesterday. It turns out the answers that he gave them while running away from them turned out to be uncomfortable, too. Uncomfortable in the sense that they were demonstrably untrue. Yes. That's next.

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