More news on Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal

Friends & Supporters,

As we informed you earlier today, the House of Representatives passed a stand-alone version of Don’t Ask, Don’t repeal last night 250-175! We also forwarded you an alert from our partners at SLDN on how you can help ensure that the Senate takes up and passes the repeal bill. Three senators have indicated they have joined the “Yes on repeal” camp and we now have more up to date information from SLDN to share with you. Please read their brief and then take action now!

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So where do we go from here? Back to the Senate, which is still mired in other business like START, the omnibus bill, and – most recently – a watered-down version (doesn’t include DADT repeal) of the NDAA, agreed upon by Levin and McCain.  Now we need to make sure we get the DADT stand-alone bill scheduled and passed on the Senate floor before the Senate goes home for the holidays.

The bill passed in the House was “privileged,” meaning Reid can bring it up first, before other business. What remains to be seen is how the timing willactually play out. Lieberman told CNN last night that he expects a Sunday or Monday vote. Once Reid brings the bill to the floor, it can be immediately debated (no 60 votes needed to proceed to debate). But, we will need 60 votes to get OFF the bill and vote on final passage. Then, the bill will be sent to the President’s desk.

So, about getting involved! We released an action alert to our list last evening (below) asking for calls to senators, to build on the momentum from the House vote. Once we have a Senate vote scheduled, we’ll be ready with another ask for calls. The target list has changed from the one in the action alert, in light of recent statements from Snowe, Murkowski, and Brown. The messaging can also shift slightly to tell the Senate to pass the House bill (not just to pass repeal). The targets list is now:

–John Ensign (R-NV);
–George LeMieux (R-FL);
–Richard Lugar (R-IN);
–Judd Gregg (R-NH);
–George Voinovich (R-OH);
–Kit Bond (R-MO);
–Mark Kirk (R-IL);
–And the sole unpersuaded Democrat: Joe Manchin (D-WV)

Thank you again for all of your support – on to the Senate we go!!

-Elizabeth