[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 435 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 435

 To amend chapter 1 of title 1, United States Code, with regard to the 
 definition of ``marriage'' and ``spouse'' for Federal purposes and to 
            ensure respect for State regulation of marriage.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 10, 2015

Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Daines, Mr. Inhofe, 
   Mr. Lankford, Mr. Lee, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Scott, Mr. Sessions, Mr. 
 Shelby, and Mr. Vitter) introduced the following bill; which was read 
          twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend chapter 1 of title 1, United States Code, with regard to the 
 definition of ``marriage'' and ``spouse'' for Federal purposes and to 
            ensure respect for State regulation of marriage.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``State Marriage Defense Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Congress affirms the States' legitimate and proper 
        public policy interests in regulating domestic relations and in 
        defining marriage for the residents of their States.
            (2) Despite striking down section 3 of the Defense of 
        Marriage Act, the Supreme Court ruling in United States v. 
        Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013) did not institute a new Federal 
        definition of marriage that includes same sex marriage. 
        Instead, United States v. Windsor specifically required the 
        Federal Government to defer to ``state sovereign choices about 
        who may be married'' in determining marital status for Federal 
        purposes.
            (3) Congress recognizes that current actions by the Federal 
        Government to afford benefits to certain relationships not 
        recognized as marriages by a person's State of residence go 
        beyond the Supreme Court's ruling in United States v. Windsor. 
        These Federal actions create ``two contradictory marriage 
        regimes within the same State,'' in direct contradiction of 
        United States v. Windsor.
            (4) Actions taken by the Federal Government to grant 
        recognition of marital status for persons not recognized as 
        married in their State of domicile undermine a State's 
        legitimate authority to define marriage for its residents.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE FOR FEDERAL PURPOSES.

    Section 7 of title 1, United States Code, is amended to read as 
follows:
``Sec. 7. Definition of `marriage' and `spouse'
    ``For purposes of determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, 
or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various 
administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, as applied 
with respect to individuals domiciled in a State or in any other 
territory or possession of the United States, the term `marriage' shall 
not include any relationship which that State, territory, or possession 
does not recognize as a marriage, and the term `spouse' shall not 
include an individual who is a party to a relationship that is not 
recognized as a marriage by that State, territory, or possession.''.
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