Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-16) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Defense announced it plans to extend full personnel benefits to same-sex military and civilian couples.  The benefits will become available by September 3, and are retroactive to the June U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  With the repeal of the DOMA, a law which Rep. Engel opposed in 1996, same-sex families cannot be excluded from federal benefits.

“This move by the Pentagon is a victory for those families who have long had to suffer from inequality.  This step is symbolic of the great strides the fight for equality for same-sex families have taken over time, as it was not long ago that DOMA was the law of the land and the military employed the punitive Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.  Currently, 12 states (including New York) and Washington D.C. recognize same-sex marriage, and more are surely to follow.  The momentum is on the side of equal rights in this battle.  With DOMA gone into the waste bin of history, I hope more steps will continue to be taken in the months and years ahead to finally end discriminatory practices against same-sex couples. It is about time.”

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