IT has been reported that the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 16-12 on Thursday to allow the repeal of the longstanding ban on gays serving openly in the U. S. military.

The New York Times has reported that the vote on the measure, part of the annual defense authorization bill, came in closed session after about an hour of what Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called "vigorous" debate.

The newspaper also said that Collins said she was the only Republican to vote in favor of repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

The Times further said that Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said he believed the full Senate would approve the measure.

The House of Representatives also was expected to take up its version of the repeal bill, possibly still Thursday.

He would vote for the measure after securing language that would delay the repeal for 60 days after certification of a military review by President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W. Va., a member of the committee, had said.

Byrd said prior to the panel's vote, "I did not want to blindly assent to repealing this law without giving the Congress an opportunity to re-examine the concerns of our armed forces and the manner in which they are being addressed."

The leaders of the four military branches have expressed opposition to any congressional action before the military completes its review in a letter to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif.

He opposed taking congressional action before the military completed its review. Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., also opposes the move, saying attaching the repeal amendment to a defense policy bill could defeat the measure, McKeon, ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said on Tuesday.

It was further reported that on the House floor, Republicans likely will vote as a bloc against the defense policy bill, which had bipartisan support in committee, Taylor said, as could liberal Democrats who traditionally oppose the measure to protest government policy on Iraq and Afghanistan. Consideration of the bill was scheduled to begin Thursday.

Gates backed the compromise, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. The admiral also accepted the compromise language, Mullen's spokesman said. (With Inputs from Agencies)