Text of US SB 435 (2015)

II 114TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 435 To amend chapter 1 of title 1, United States Code, with regard to the definition of ‘‘marriage’’ and ‘‘spouse’’ for Federal purposes and to ensure respect for State regulation of marriage. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 10, 2015 Mr. CRUZ (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. DAINES, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. LEE, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SHELBY, and Mr. VITTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend chapter 1 of title 1, United States Code, with regard to the definition of ‘‘marriage’’ and ‘‘spouse’’ for Federal purposes and to 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 ‘‘State Marriage De- 4 fense Act of 2015’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Feb 18, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S435.IS S435 smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 2 •S 435 IS (1) Congress affirms the States’ legitimate and 1 proper public policy interests in regulating domestic 2 relations and in defining marriage for the residents 3 of their States. 4 (2) Despite striking down section 3 of the De- 5 fense of Marriage Act, the Supreme Court ruling in 6 United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013) 7 did not institute a new Federal definition of mar- 8 riage that includes same sex marriage. Instead, 9 United States v. Windsor specifically required the 10 Federal Government to defer to ‘‘state sovereign 11 choices about who may be married’’ in determining 12 marital status for Federal purposes. 13 (3) Congress recognizes that current actions by 14 the Federal Government to afford benefits to certain 15 relationships not recognized as marriages by a per- 16 son’s State of residence go beyond the Supreme 17 Court’s ruling in United States v. Windsor. These 18 Federal actions create ‘‘two contradictory marriage 19 regimes within the same State,’’ in direct contradic- 20 tion of United States v. Windsor. 21 (4) Actions taken by the Federal Government 22 to grant recognition of marital status for persons 23 not recognized as married in their State of domicile 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:22 Feb 18, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S435.IS S435 smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 3 •S 435 IS undermine a State’s legitimate authority to define 1 marriage for its residents. 2 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE FOR 3 FEDERAL PURPOSES. 4 Section 7 of title 1, United States Code, is amended 5 to read as follows: 6 ‘‘§ 7. Definition of ‘marriage’ and ‘spouse’ 7 ‘‘For purposes of determining the meaning of any Act 8 of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation 9 of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the 10 United States, as applied with respect to individuals domi- 11 ciled in a State or in any other territory or possession of 12 the United States, the term ‘marriage’ shall not include 13 any relationship which that State, territory, or possession 14 does not recognize as a marriage, and the term ‘spouse’ 15 shall not include an individual who is a party to a relation- 16 ship that is not recognized as a marriage by that State, 17 territory, or possession.’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Feb 18, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S435.IS S435 smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS