Lt. Dan Choi gives Harry Reid his West Point ring & discharge papers

Lt. Dan Choi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Netroots Nation
Las Vegas, NV
July 24, 2010
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The moderator: “This morning Dan Choi gave me this to give to you. That’s his West Point ring. He says, he says it doesn’t mean to him what it did mean to him anymore. And this is his discharge.”

Harry Reid: “I just want to say about the ring. My son, my youngest boy, played on three national championship teams at the University of Virginia–soccer champions–and he gave me one of those rings. And I love that ring, that was terrific, but i didn’t earn the ring; my son gave it to me. He [Choi] earned this ring. And I’m gonna give it back to him. I don’t need his ring to fulfill the promise that I made to him.”

Moderator: “When it’s signed, Senator. When it’s signed.”

Reid: “That’s good enough with me. When the bill is signed I’ll keep it safely and give it back to him.”

[applause]

Choi gets on stage.

Reid: “When we get it passed you’ll take it back, right?”

Choi: “I sure will, but I’m gonna hold you accountable.”