This morning, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) — who told a local newspaper last month that he considered homosexuality a “sin” — released a statement saying that he accepted the military’s recommendations on repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and would move to vote to the measure in the lame duck session of the Senate. From his statement:

On many previous occasions, I have said that I would oppose repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell until I had heard from our servicemen and women regarding this policy. I have now carefully reviewed all of the findings, reports, and testimony from our armed forces on this matter and I accept the Pentagon’s recommendations to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I also accept the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs’ commitment that this policy can be implemented in a manner that does not harm our military’s readiness, recruitment, or retention. We have the strongest military in the world and we will continue to do so by ensuring our troops have the resources necessary to carry out their missions. Therefore, I support the 2011 Defense Authorization Act that passed the Senate Armed Services Committee and will support procedural measures to bring it to a vote this year.

With Pryor’s commitment, the only Democratic vote that’s still in contention is that of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) who has expressed concern about overturning the policy during a time of war and, as of this writing, remains “undecided” on how to vote. If he is ultimately willing to vote on cloture, Democrats would need just two Republicans to proceed to the measure. With Sens. Brown’s, Collins’ and possibly Lugar’s support, it’s very likely that they will have more than 60 votes for the NDAA.

But it remains to be seen if Democrats will have enough time to debate the measure and if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is willing to keep the Senate in session past Christmas to ensure a “fair” process that will bring more Republicans on board. Earlier this morning, Reid took to the floor to announce that he’s “likely” to bring up the NDAA “this evening”:

REID: And I’m likely going to move to my motion to reconsider on the defense authorization act this evening. Allowing, as I will indicate at that time, time for amendments to that piece of legislation.

Watch it:

At this point, it’s unclear if those Republicans who support DADT repeal are willing to vote for cloture before considering taxes and other priorities.

As the Pentagon prepares to release its 10-month review of the consequences of repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, AmericaBlog’s Joe Sudbay flags this quote from Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), one of only two Democrats to support a Republican filibuster of the measure in September:

In an interview, Sen. Mark Pryor said he will vote against any bill that includes a repeal of the policy.

In the waning days of the current Congress, he said, lawmakers should focus on legislation that aims to produce jobs, not on contentious issues that have stymied them before.

Although the report reportedly says that “don’t ask, don’t tell” can be repealed without undermining military readiness, Pryor said the armed services should deliberate a bit longer before making any policy changes, adding, “I want to give the military the time to do what they’re doing.”

But the status quo won’t last, Pryor said.

“Society has changed a lot,” he said, “and over time, this policy will change.”

While he said he considers homosexuality a sin and is concerned about where gay troops would be housed, “we live in a society where we accept other people’s lifestyles, so I don’t want to be judgmental,” Pryor said.

Still, he voiced concerns that a repeal of “don’t ask” might make life harder for the troops’ anti-homosexual spiritual leaders.

“If the policy is changed, what impact does that have on chaplains?” Pryor asked. “Does it impede a chaplain from doing what he thinks is his duty to God and country?”

Interestingly, Pryor, who has previously said that Congress should “let the military professionals work through their process” “before we start making policy here on ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,’” is announcing his position before even reading the study and is doing so using talking points from the Family Research Council, an organization recently classified as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Given his characterization of homosexuality as “sin”, the implicit reference seems fitting, even if the attack isn’t. First, military leaders have repeatedly argued that the Pentagon’s review will provide it with sufficient information and guidance into the consequences of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has actually called on Congress to pass repeal in the lame duck session, so as to preempt a court-mandated change. Second, the FRC’s and Pryor’s concerns about the freedom of military chaplains are just fictitious. As Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson — the first openly gay priest elected bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion — has pointed out, policies “designed to preserve and protect the free exercise of religion in the military and would remain in effect after the repeal” of the policy. “No Roman Catholic, fundamentalist Christian or Orthodox Jewish chaplain would have to change her or his beliefs about homosexuality. If any gay or lesbian servicemembers went to one of these chaplains, they would still receive the counseling against homosexuality they have always received. What they wouldn’t receive is a discharge from their military service for being gay and speaking about it,” he writes.

Repeated attempts to contact Pryor’s office via email and phone for a clarification of the Senator’s remarks went unanswered.