Text of AR HR 1049 (2013)

*DLP267* 03-11-2013 16:56:40 DLP267 State of Arkansas 1 89th General Assembly 2 Regular Session, 2013 HR 1049 3 4 By: Representative Dotson 5 6 HOUSE RESOLUTION 7 URGING SUPPORT FOR THE DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT. 8 9 10 Subtitle 11 URGING SUPPORT FOR THE DEFENSE OF 12 MARRIAGE ACT. 13 14 15 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE EIGHTY-NINTH GENERAL 16 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 17 18 WHEREAS, marriage is a sacred institution; and 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law. *DLP267* 03-11-2013 16:56:40 DLP267 State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H3/25/13 1 89th General Assembly 2 Regular Session, 2013 HR 1049 3 4 By: Representative Dotson 5 6 HOUSE RESOLUTION 7 AFFIRMING TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE AS DEFINED IN 8 AMENDMENT 83 TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF 9 ARKANSAS AND FEDERAL DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT AND 10 SUPPORTING THE FEDERAL DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT. 11 12 13 Subtitle 14 AFFIRMING TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE AS DEFINED 15 IN AMENDMENT 83 TO THE CONSTITUTION OF 16 THE STATE OF ARKANSAS AND FEDERAL DEFENSE 17 OF MARRIAGE ACT AND SUPPORTING THE 18 FEDERAL DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT. 19 20 21 WHEREAS, marriage is a fundamental social institution that has been 22 tested and reaffirmed over thousands of years; and 23 24 WHEREAS, historically marriage has been reflected in our law and the 25 law of all jurisdictions in the United States as the union of a man and a 26 woman, and the everyday meaning of marriage and the legal meaning of marriage 27 has always been defined as the legal union of a man and a woman as husband 28 and wife; and 29 30 WHEREAS, families consisting of the legal union of one man and one 31 woman for the purpose of bearing and raising children remains the basic unit 32 of our civil society; and 33 34 WHEREAS, in 1996, Congress overwhelmingly passed, and President Bill 35 Clinton signed, the Defense of Marriage Act under which Congress exercised 36 As Engrossed: H3/25/13 HR1049 2 03-11-2013 16:56:40 DLP267 its rights under the effects clause of Section 1 of Article IV of the United 1 States Constitution; and 2 3 WHEREAS, Section 2(a) of the Defense of Marriage Act clearly spells out 4 that "No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian 5 tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or 6 judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe 7 respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as 8 a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or 9 tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship."; and 10 11 WHEREAS, Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage, 12 states that "the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and 13 one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person 14 of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."; and 15 16 WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral 17 arguments in U.S. v. Windsor on March 27, 2013, asking whether the Defense of 18 Marriage Act — passed under the effects clause of Section 1 of Article IV of 19 the United States Constitution — violates the Fifth Amendment of the United 20 States Constitution; and 21 22 WHEREAS, in February, the Justice Department of President Barack Obama 23 filed a brief with the Supreme Court of the United States, asking the Supreme 24 Court to invalidate Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act; and 25 26 WHEREAS, on November 2, 2004, 753,770 Arkansans voted to pass Proposed 27 Constitutional Amendment No.3 to the Constitution of the State of Arkansas, 28 representing 74.95% of the votes cast; and 29 30 WHEREAS, the total amount of votes cast in favor of Proposed 31 Constitutional Amendment No.3 was higher than the total amount of votes cast 32 for the re-election of President George W. Bush; and 33 34 WHEREAS, Proposed Constitutional Amendment No.3 became Amendment 83 to 35 the Constitution of the State of Arkansas; and 36 As Engrossed: H3/25/13 HR1049 3 03-11-2013 16:56:40 DLP267 1 WHEREAS, Section 1 of Amendment 83 reads, "Marriage consists only of 2 the union of one man and one woman."; and 3 4 WHEREAS, Section 2 of Amendment 83 reads, "Legal status for unmarried 5 persons which is identical or substantially similar to marital status shall 6 not be valid or recognized in Arkansas, except that the legislature may 7 recognize a common law marriage from another state between a man and a 8 woman.", 9 10 NOW THEREFORE, 11 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE EIGHTY-NINTH GENERAL 12 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 13 14 THAT the House of Representatives reaffirms its support for traditional 15 marriage as the union of one man and one woman, as expressed in Amendment 83 16 of the Constitution of the State of Arkansas and the Defense of Marriage Act. 17 18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the chief clerk of the House of Representatives 19 distribute a copy of this resolution to the President of the United States, 20 the Vice President of the United States, the President Pro Tempore of the 21 United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of 22 Representatives, the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the United 23 States Supreme Court, the chief executive officer of each legislative chamber 24 for each of the fifty (50) state legislatures within the United States, and 25 each member of the Arkansas Congressional Delegation. 26 27 /s/Dotson 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36