[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 19, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S3380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Ms. Baldwin, and Ms. Collins):
  S. 4556. A bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure 
respect for State regulation of marriage, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today, I am reintroducing legislation 
that would guarantee legal rights for millions of marriages in the 
United States. Americans should be free to marry the person they love, 
regardless of their sexual orientation or race, without fear of 
discrimination or fear that their marriages will be invalidated.
  Very simply, this bill makes clear that the Federal Government and 
the States must recognize a legal marriage--as has been the law of the 
land for same-sex couples since 2015 and for interracial couples since 
1967.
  I have long been an ally and advocate for the LGBT community. I spent 
two decades as a supervisor and mayor of San Francisco, when the city 
was at the forefront of elevating their voices and advancing their 
rights, and I watched firsthand as the LGBT community fought for legal 
recognition of their lives, relationships, and personal dignity.
  That is why I first introduced the Respect for Marriage Act in 2011. 
The initial version of the bill would have repealed the discriminatory 
Defense of Marriage Act--commonly referred to as DOMA--and ensured that 
legally married couples, including same-sex couples, were treated 
equally under Federal law.
  In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-
sex couples have the right to marry under the U.S. Constitution. The 
Court recognized that committed couples should be able to marry, 
regardless of their sexual orientation--a belief that the American 
people have held for quite some time. In fact, a recent poll placed 
support for same-sex marriage at 71 percent.
  Fifty-five years ago, in Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court ruled 
that ``the freedom to marry . . . a person of another race resides with 
the individual, and cannot be infringed by the state.'' Support for 
interracial marriage has grown exponentially since then, and a 2021 
Gallup poll found it has reached an approval rating of 94 percent.
  Unfortunately, we may now be taking a step backward. Following the 
Supreme Court's decision overturning the longstanding constitutional 
protections provided by Roe v. Wade, it became clear that this 
conservative Supreme Court is open to revisiting many other established 
constitutional rights, including the right to same-sex marriage and the 
right to interracial marriage.
  Overturning Obergefell and Loving would be a disastrous return to a 
patchwork of State laws where couples could be subject to State-
sanctioned discrimination. The legal ramifications would be far-
reaching, from disrupting tax filings and benefits to calling parental 
rights into question--and beyond.
  That is why I, along with my colleagues in the House and the Senate, 
am reintroducing the Respect for Marriage Act: to ensure that Federal 
law protects marriage equality and to ensure that States cannot 
discriminate against valid same-sex or interracial marriages.
  Inequitable treatment of LGBT Americans and discriminatory marriage 
laws belong in our history books, not in our Federal code.
  I thank Senators Baldwin and Collins for their leadership on this 
important issue and urge the rest of my colleagues to support this 
bill.

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