A repeal bill has not been introduced
in the Senate, but Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut,
is in discussions with the White House about potentially being the lead
sponsor of the legislation. Several sources have said that Senator
Lieberman is still considering whether to take the bill.


But given the strategy, Representative Frank said “it would make no sense” to introduce a repeal bill in the Senate.


“What
will happen is people will waste their time trying to get cosponsors of
that bill from people who will vote for us anyway,” he said.


Frank added that getting 60 votes in the Senate for repeal was still “no slam dunk.”


But
he “fully expects” that repeal language will be included in the bills
when they are reported out of their respective Armed Services
Committees next year.


The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was originally enacted in 1993 as part of the Defense Department authorization bill.