[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 12 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. J. RES. 12

    Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States 
                         relative to marriage.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 23, 2015

  Mr. Cruz introduced the following joint resolution; which was read 
          twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
    Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States 
                         relative to marriage.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled   (two-thirds of each House 
concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be 
valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when 
ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States 
within seven years after the date of its submission by the Congress:

                              ``Article--

    ``Section 1. The United States and each State, territory, and 
possession thereof shall have the power to define marriage as limited 
to the union of one man and one woman. Nothing in this Constitution 
shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents 
thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of one man and 
one woman or to require that a State recognize a marriage that was 
licensed in another State. No decision or order of any court to the 
contrary, including any decision or order issued before the date of 
ratification, shall have any force or effect.''.
                                 <all>