to begin , mr. speaker , it is absolutely backwards to decry this policy of excluding recruiters from using the facilities of a university . 
let us be clear : no university can ban a recruiter from coming to that city or that town . 
no university can say that students will not talk to the recruiter . 
the question is not whether the recruiters can come and advertise ; it is whether they can compel the university to offer its facilities involving a policy with which they disagree . 
but to say that that causes a problem in getting people in the military , it is the supporters of a policy that say to able-bodied men and women , we disapprove of your sexuality , and , therefore , no matter how talented you are , no matter how patriotic you are , no matter what skills you bring , you are not allowed here . 
colin powell , when he was chairman of the joint chiefs of staff , testified before this congress that there was no argument that gay and lesbian men and women in the military were in any way deficient as members of the military . 
he made it clear . 
the only reason for excluding them was the prejudice of others . 
that was the only reason . 
the argument was : if you let these people in , and he said they had been good soldiers and good airmen and good sailors , it would be disruptive . 
well , one , that was 15 years ago when he said that . 
i think society has moved some . 
but , second , we have experience to the contrary . 
i know there have been people critical of the israeli defense forces in some respects . 
i think they deserve , on the whole , a lot of credit for a difficult job . 
in the israeli defense forces , people serve who are openly gay and lesbian . 
so the argument that somehow allowing people who are honest about their sexuality , if they are gay or lesbian , to serve in the military makes you an ineffectual military , how do they explain the israeli defense forces ? 
in fact , what we are again being told is that good people , able people , and we heard reference to the linguists . 
this has become the policy of `` do n't ask , do n't tell , and by no means translate. '' you who support this policy are the ones , mr. speaker , who are depriving the armed services of able-bodied people . 
you are the ones who have driven thousands , literally thousands of perfectly capable men and women out of the military because you disapprove of what they do in their spare time . 
so then to claim that it is the universities trying to stand up for a principle that are weakening the military gets it absolutely backwards . 
i was also saddened , i must say , by one of the previous speakers who said he wanted to express his disdain for the universities involved . 
we have universities here which are trying to express their disagreement with what they believe , and i agree , but what they believe to be an unfair prejudice that singles out some of their students . 
i understand disagreement with that , but disdain ? 
disdain because people in these positions feel that their students should not be unduly stigmatized and denied this opportunity ? 
if it is so important to have the opportunity , mr. speaker , should not people on the other side say , you can not deny these young people the opportunity to serve in the military . 
should you not say , you should not deny these young people the opportunity to serve in the military unless they are gay or lesbian . 
because if they are gay or lesbian , you want to deny them the opportunity to serve in the military regardless of any fault . 
remember , this is one that says we just stigmatize you from the outset . 
there is nothing you can do , there is no degree of service you can perform , there is no sacrifice you can offer to make that will allow you to serve your country . 
and then we will complain because we do not have enough people to serve in the military . 
and , again , literally thousands have been turned away . 
the universities are not blocking recruitment . 
they can not . 
they are asking for the right to stand up for principle . 
and now we are told by one other speaker , well , if they do not agree with the policy , you would think they would not accept the money . 
please . 
i would say to members , one rule in parliamentary debate : try to avoid saying something that no one will believe . 
i mean , this notion that if you do not agree with a policy you should boycott the government , which is using your tax money , nobody believes that . 
people get taxed , and sometimes they agree and sometimes they disagree . 
we say to people , look , you can voice your opinion , but you can not avoid paying the taxes . 
and , by the way , it is not money from the military they are seeking . 
typically , what we have here are law schools . 
it is law schools , as people have noted , who are doing this . 
so people have said , well , what about the poor people ? 
we are not getting enough wealthy people to offset the number of poor people . 
well , we are talking about lawyers who are being recruited . 
frankly , the poor people are not being recruited for the judge advocate general 's office . 
it just does not compute . 
but what they are saying is , we are not going to allow our facilities to be used in this discriminatory way . 
and the law schools , by the way , are not themselves , and this is an important point , under the clinton administration the ruling was that we would look at each element of a university separately . 
and if the law school said no military recruiting , that did not stop the medical school or the school of engineering from applying for federal funds . 
what you now have is a policy that says if the law school says no , no other entity can get the money . 
so there is no connection there . 
the key issue here is this : have we not in this country come to the point where patriotic young gay men and lesbians who are prepared to serve their country will at least be given a chance ? 
can you not judge them on their merits ? 
can you not say , okay , we admire your willingness to do this . 
we will judge you . 
if it turns out you become disruptive , we will act . 
but this blanket denial of even the opportunity no matter how talented , no matter how diligent ? 
you enforce that as a policy , and then you complain that we have people being turned away ? 
mr. speaker , i hope this resolution is not adopted , and i hope we will begin to reverse this blanket prejudicial policy that says to millions , millions of young american men and women , you need not apply to defend your country because we do not like some aspect about you , even if it is going to be entirely irrelevant to your service . 
