Text of US HB 4430 (2010)

I 111TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4430 To protect the democratic process and the right of the people of the District of Columbia to define marriage. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 13, 2010 Mr. CHAFFETZ (for himself and Mr. JORDAN of Ohio) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Gov- ernment Reform A BILL To protect the democratic process and the right of the people of the District of Columbia to define 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 ‘‘District of Columbia 4 Referendum on Marriage Act of 2010’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 (1) a broad coalition of residents of the District 8 of Columbia petitioned for an initiative in accord- 9 ance with the District of Columbia Home Rule Act 10 VerDate Nov 24 2008 01:34 Jan 14, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4430.IH H4430 jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4430 IH to establish that ‘‘only marriage between a man and 1 a woman is valid or recognized in the District of Co- 2 lumbia’’; 3 (2) this petition anticipated the Council of the 4 District of Columbia’s passage of an Act legalizing 5 same-sex marriage; 6 (3) the unelected District of Columbia Board of 7 Elections and Ethics and the unelected District of 8 Columbia Superior Court thwarted the residents’ ini- 9 tiative effort to define marriage democratically, hold- 10 ing that the initiative amounted to discrimination 11 prohibited by the District of Columbia Human 12 Rights Act; and 13 (4) the definition of marriage affects every per- 14 son and should be debated openly and democrat- 15 ically. 16 SEC. 3. REFERENDUM OR INITIATIVE REQUIREMENT. 17 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including 18 the District of Columbia Human Rights Act, the govern- 19 ment of the District of Columbia shall not issue a mar- 20 riage license to any couple of the same sex until the people 21 of the District of Columbia have the opportunity to hold 22 a referendum or initiative on the question of whether the 23 VerDate Nov 24 2008 01:34 Jan 14, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4430.IH H4430 jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4430 IH District of Columbia should issue same-sex marriage li- 1 censes. 2 Æ VerDate Nov 24 2008 01:34 Jan 14, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4430.IH H4430 jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS