“While many believe repeal of this odious law is a foregone conclusion, the real truth is that this is not yet a done deal,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “If the more than 75 percent of fair-minded Americans who recognize this as a failed law do not speak up, a small group of Senators with their own narrow political agendas could win out.”
Congress returns Monday from their August recess and will have only several weeks of work before breaking again for the upcoming November elections. Senate leaders have indicated that t
he defense bill – to which “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal is attached – is on a list of possible bills on which they may vote.“We've had to fight to the end for every victory we've won, and this is no different,” added Solmonese. “If we don't speak up now, our window for repeal could close.”
HRC will launch a full national action alert tomorrow encouraging members and supporters to contact their Senators immediately and ask that they push for repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the next four weeks.
The alert is available online at http://bit.ly/bsPVlt. To reach Senate offices, constituents may use the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Earlier this week HRC staff delivered thousands of postcards, petition signatures and handwritten letters to Senators with constituent messages pushing for repeal. More information is on HRC’s blog at http://bit.ly/bwFCfi. Additionally for the past several weeks, HRC field staff – along with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network team – have been generating grassroots activity in key states through our Countdown 2010 program.