On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives repealed the Defense of Marriage Act, which legally defined marriage as between one man and one woman. President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law in 1996.
Thursday’s two-part House action repealed the Defense of Marriage Act and replaced it with the Respect for Marriage Act, a statute that notes “any ‘person acting under color of State law’ must recognize a marriage between two people in another state and that the federal government must recognize marriages if they were valid in the state where the marriage occurred,” according to The Daily Wire.
The bill passed in the House with a vote of 258-169 — 39 Republicans supported the Democrat-pushed initiative.
The 39 Republicans who voted in support of the bill are:
- Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota
- Don Bacon of Nebraska
- Ken Calvert of California
- Kat Cammack of Florida
- Mike Carey of Ohio
- Liz Cheney of Wyoming
- John Curtis of Utah
- Rodney Davis of Illinois
- Tom Emmer of Minnesota
- Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
- Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin
- Andrew Garbarino of New York
- Mike Garcia of California
- Carlos Gimenez of Florida
- Tony Gonzales of Texas
- Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
- Jamie Herrera Beutler of Washington
- Ashley Hinson of Iowa
- Darrell Issa of California
- Chris Jacobs of New York
- David Joyce of Ohio
- John Katko of New York
- Nancy Mace of South Carolina
- Nicole Malliotakis of New York
- Peter Meijer of Michigan
- Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa
- Blake Moore of Utah
- Dan Newhouse Washington
- Jay Obernolte of California
- Tom Rice of South Carolina
- Mike Simpson of Idaho
- Elise Stefanik of New York
- Bryan Steil of Wisconsin
- Chris Stewart of Utah
- Mike Turner of Ohio
- Fred Upton of Michigan
- David Valadao of California
- Ann Wagner of Missouri
- Michael Waltz of Florida
Several Republicans vigorously opposed the measure, arguing that the bill’s ambiguous language opens the door for severe infringements of religious freedom and could impinge on policies religious institutions establish based on their religious convictions.
Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted:
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) couched the bill as a safeguard of personal “constitutional rights,” saying, “it is critical to ensure that federal law protects those whose constitutional rights might be threatened by Republican-controlled state legislatures.”
Hoyer added, “LGBTQ Americans and those in interracial marriages deserve to have certainty that they will continue to have their right to equal marriage recognized, no matter where they live.”
Religious groups fear government leaders could use the new statute to force churches, religious colleges and seminaries to hire pastors and professors who do not hold biblically-based views.
The vote followed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s successful advancement of the bill through the upper chamber last week. Depicting the bill as a means to protect the rights of those with interracial marriages, Schumer was able to enlist the support of 10 Republicans and move forward the bill with a vote of 61-36.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) attempted to add language to the bill to protect the interests of religious organizations, calling for an addendum for “anyone with a religious belief or moral conviction that marriage belongs to one man and one woman.”
Lee’s amendment included this introductory statement:
“Instead of subjecting churches, religious nonprofits, and persons of conscience to undue scrutiny or punishment by the federal government because of their views on marriage, we should make explicitly clear that this legislation does not constitute a national policy endorsing a particular view of marriage that threatens the tax-exempt status of faith-based nonprofits.”
“As we move forward,” Lee wrote, “let us be sure to keep churches, religious charities, and religious universities out of litigation in the first instance.”
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) disagreed with Lee’s concerns, writing:
“This legislation provides important protections for religious liberty — measures which are particularly important to protect the religious freedoms of our faith-based institutions.”
Romney added: “While I believe in traditional marriage, Obergefell is and has been the law of the land upon which LGBTQ individuals have relied. This legislation provides certainty to many LGBTQ Americans, and it signals that Congress — and I — esteem and love all of our fellow Americans equally.”
Lee’s attempt to amend the bill failed. He wrote:
Schumer celebrated the bill’s passage, saying on the Senate floor: “What a great day. What a great day!” He reportedly told his colleagues the first thing he would do that evening was call his daughter and her wife.
The bill now goes to the desk of President Joe Biden who has pledged to sign it into law.
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