Ninety-six members of Congress have submitted a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates requesting “don’t ask, don’t tell” discharge data, according to the Palm Center, a University of California, Santa Barbara think tank.  The request comes as those in favor of the repeal prepare for Congressional debates tentatively scheduled for 2010.

The letter, authored by Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) has also been signed by Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), sponsor of the House DADT repeal bill.

Here’s the letter:

Congressional Letter Requesting 2009 DADT Discharge Data

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), the straight Iraq war veteran helming the House bill to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” has told the Huffington Post he expects the legislation will be on President Obama’s desk “in a short matter of time”:

Murphy has 168 co-sponsors for legislation that would repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, as well as several commitments from party leadership that the bill will come to a vote.

He said that the considerable anger directed at President Obama for failing to address the subject sooner was understandable but ultimately misplaced.

“President Obama has clearly said he wants to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” Murphy said. “He has instructed as Commander in Chief his Secretary of Defense and chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff to be prepare to implement the policy but he has respect for the legislative branch, a co-equal branch, and said, ‘Guys, I want a bill on my desk. And when it comes on my desk I’m going to sign it to repeal this.’”

Rep. Patrick Murphy, an Iraq war veteran in his second term in the U.S. House, will lead efforts to repeal the law that requires the Department of Defense to discharge servicemembers who do not sufficiently hide the fact that they are gay or lesbian.  Murphy sat down with the Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld to talk about the prospects for his bill:

I’ve been going member to member, especially since I’ve taken the lead – we’ve gotten six new co-sponsors on board, two members of leadership last week [Reps. John Larson and Rep. Xavier Becerra], and we’re doing the national kickoff at the National Press Club Tuesday. But I’m also doing a website petition to petition my fellow members of congress, and we’re going to be doing smaller press conferences in congressional districts to let people know why it’s important now to change it.

The fact that we’ve let go over 13,000 troops since it’s been implemented and over 65 Arabic translators — that’s over three combat brigades that we’ve let go. When we’re fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, we need every qualified, able-bodied individual to serve.

Read the full interview at the Advocate.  Also, check out today’s launch of the Human Rights Campaign’s “Voices of Honor” national tour supporting repeal of  the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy.  Video of the press conference with Rep. Murphy is up at HRC Back Story.