Text of US HB 197 (2015)

I 114TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 197 To repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure respect for State regulation of marriage. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 7, 2015 Mr. NADLER (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. HOYER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. POLIS, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. POCAN, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. CHU of California, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. CUM- MINGS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FARR, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Ms. HAHN, Mr. HANNA, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. COHEN, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. DELANEY, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Ms. ESTY, and Mr. COOPER) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:27 Jan 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H197.IH H197 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 197 IH A BILL To repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure respect for State regulation of marriage. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Respect for Marriage 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF SECTION ADDED TO TITLE 28, UNITED 6 STATES CODE, BY SECTION 2 OF THE DE- 7 FENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT. 8 Section 1738C of title 28, United States Code, is re- 9 pealed, and the table of sections at the beginning of chap- 10 ter 115 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by 11 striking the item relating to that section. 12 SEC. 3. MARRIAGE RECOGNITION. 13 Section 7 of title 1, United States Code, is amended 14 to read as follows: 15 ‘‘§ 7. Marriage 16 ‘‘(a) For the purposes of any Federal law in which 17 marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered 18 married if that individual’s marriage is valid in the State 19 where the marriage was entered into or, in the case of 20 a marriage entered into outside any State, if the marriage 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:27 Jan 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H197.IH H197 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 197 IH is valid in the place where entered into and the marriage 1 could have been entered into in a State. 2 ‘‘(b) In this section, the term ‘State’ means a State, 3 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 4 Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United 5 States.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:27 Jan 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H197.IH H197 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS