From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Don't ask, don't tell comes out of the closet.

Hello again, I'm Armin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

President Obama could revoke Bill Clinton's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy,

but it'll take an act of Congress to repeal the ban on homosexuals in the military.

Hardline activists say Obama's moving too slowly on Don't Ask, Don't Tell,

but now from the Pentagon comes a call for repealing the ban. An article for the

Joint Chiefs of Staff says there's no scientific evidence that gays and lesbians damage morale,

so why should they have to live a lie? Does the military itself want the issue decided once and

for all? What's the thinking on Capitol Hill? On reporter's notebook later on, the Senate Finance Committee on Healthcare Reform, first here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur

Foundation. Hello again. Warren-Nalny, back with To the Point. President Obama wants to revoke,

don't ask, don't tell, but Congress will have to repeal the ban on gays in the military.

We'll hear about morale and civil rights in the service. On reporter's notebook,

health care reform gets its final hearing in the Senate Finance Committee. We'll get a progress report.

First, this news update. President Obama is considering a request for 40,000 more troops in Afghanistan, beyond the 21,000 he ordered in March.

But wait. Today's Washington Post reports that another 13,000 already are being deployed.

And Scott Tyson wrote the story. Good to have you on our program.

My pleasure.

Let's avoid confusion in numbers here. You're saying that in addition to the 21,000 troops he

...