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Obama to make announcement on gay ban

The announcement of congressional hearings on the ban on open military service by homosexuals has been delayed at the request of the Obama administration until after Wednesday night’s State of the Union Address because the president may announce that military leaders will support changing the law, according to a key lawmaker.

The Senate Armed Services Committee expects to have a series of hearings, one focusing on the views of military leaders, another on the views of outside witnesses and possibly panels of junior officers and noncommissioned officers, said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the committee chairman.

Levin said Monday that an announcement of the hearings has been delayed at the request of senior Defense Department officials until after President Obama’s speech. Levin said he does not know what Obama might say, but he expects it will be an announcement of the administration’s intentions.

Hearings were supposed to start with military leaders, Levin said, but he might change the order to get hearings underway if senior military officials need more time to prepare.

“I am willing to switch things up,” he said. “I am committed to starting the hearings in February.”

Having junior officers and noncommissioned officers and petty officers testify could be an important step in getting the policy changed, Levin said, especially because he believes there are “generational differences” in views about the presence of gays and lesbians in the ranks. Younger people are more likely to be accepting of a policy change than older people, Levin said.

Although Levin supports repealing the ban and the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that derives from it, Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., the House Armed Services Committee chairman, said he wants current restrictions to remain in force and will oppose efforts by the Obama administration to change the law that has existed since 1993.