The lead sponsor of the bill to repeal the military’s ban on openly gay servicemembers said he expects movement on the legislation in the next few months.

U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa., 8th Dist.) anticipates the House will hold a subcommittee hearing on the Military Readiness Enhancement Act either this winter or spring.

Murphy told PGN he expects this session’s hearing will allow for testimony from current military officials, which was lacking in last summer’s proceeding.

“We had a hearing for the first time last year but we didn’t have folks from the Pentagon included, so that is definitely something we’re hoping to have this year,” he said.

Murphy said he’s gotten support for the bill from all but one of the nine Democrats on the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee, the legislative body that will eventually hold the hearing and of which Murphy is a member. Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam) is the only Democratic member not cosponsoring the legislation.

Murphy, an Iraq War veteran, took the lead on the bill in the past summer after former prime sponsor Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) vacated her seat to take on the position of Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.

When Murphy came aboard, the legislation had about 140 cosponsors. That list has since grown to 173, with seven legislators adding their names to the bill in just the past five days, Murphy said.

“I’ve been meeting with my colleagues one on one and have been very encouraged,” he said.

Murphy said he’s also received commitments from at least 10 more lawmakers that they will vote for the bill but not cosponsor it — a move that often results from being in a “tough political seat.”

Murphy was unsure what impact the recent death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who was expected to introduce a companion bill in the Senate, could have on the future of the Senate fight to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“We’re hopeful for this moving forward in the Senate, but right now I have to focus on the House,” Murphy said. “We do have major supporters over in the Senate like [Sen. John] Kerry [D-Mass.] and [Sen. Kristen] Gillibrand [D-N.Y.]. Sen. Kennedy was our champion in the Senate, so we’re just going to have to see who his replacement will be.”

In July, Murphy and a coalition of LGBT and ally servicemembers kicked off the “Voices of Honor” tour in Philadelphia and since have traveled across the nation raising awareness about the damaging effects of the 16-year-old policy.

“‘Voices of Honor’ has been terrific,” Murphy said. “We’ve gone to all the major media markets in the country talking about how we need to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ because it hurts our national security and the American taxpayers. We’ve been in tough Congressional districts where we need this support. I think that most folks we talked to didn’t understand that at a time when we need our troops to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq, we’ve kicked out over 13,000 of them because of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’”

Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn.com.