A "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Legislative Analysis

by Michael Jones · 2009-07-27 07:56:00 UTC
Topics:

Don't Ask Don't Tell

Ready for a Political Science 101 on H.R. 1283, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009?  It's the bill that will overturn "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and completely integrate openly gay and openly lesbian soldiers into the U.S. military.  It's lead champion in the U.S. House is Rep. Patrick Murphy, a veteran of the current U.S. War in Iraq and a really outspoken proponent of equal rights in the military.

Who else in the U.S. House has signed on to support H.R. 1283?  For that, we turn to this excellent diary post over at Pam's House Blend from SD_Dave, who also regularly comments over here at change.org.  SD_Dave's analysis looks at Democrats and Republicans who voted recently for hate crimes legislation, and whether or not those folks are signed on to support repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

The results?  Well, while more than 160 Congress members have signed on to repeal DADT, there are about 90 other Democrats and Republicans who voted for an expansion of hate crimes laws, but haven't yet signed on to support a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."  You know what that means, right?

Action time.  There's a petition running here, sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, to urge Congress to support Military Readiness Enhancement Act, overturn "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and do what's best for our country's national security.  If you haven't signed it yet, please take a moment to do so.

As for more analysis from SD_Dave?  Well, he says that we need about 54-55 more legislators to commit to signing onto the H.R. 1283, before it will move forward in the House.  And that Rep. Patrick Murphy fella?  Well, he's pledged to hold hearings on overturning "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" later this year.  Nice to know we have both good political analysts on our side, as well as strong allies within Congress.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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