Rep. Patrick Murphy (D) of Pennsylvania has taken over as lead sponsor of house bill HR 1283, which would repeal the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy. Murphy is the first war veteran elected to Congress, having served in Bosnia (2002) and in Iraq (2003-2004) as a Captain in the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division.

Unwilling to wait for the Obama administration to take action, this Wednesday Murphy will begin a public push to get DADT repealed before the end of the year.

Murphy spoke of his commitment to overturning DADT in Stars and Stripes:

“People ask why does an Irish-Catholic guy who’s straight and married care so much about [overturning] ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ ” he said. “And I tell them it’s because this is something I believe in. It’s a failed policy that hurts national security.

“We all knew people who we served with who were gay, and it didn’t affect their job,” he said. “It didn’t affect me personally. But they were discriminated against, and that shouldn’t be.”

This Wednesday Murphy will launch www.letthemserve.com, advocating for the repeal of DADT, detailing facts and myths about the policy.

Last year Murphy spoke eloquently against DADT during a subcommittee hearing. Despite his Freshman status, he will be a strong voice and a tremendous ally in the effort to repeal the policy. Watch: