November 28, 2022 |
Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis has put her conservative political brand on the line for HR 8404.
Proponents of the Respect for Marriage Act say, “Love is love.” The bill, which would codify gay marriage at the federal level, is up for a critical vote today in the Senate. Its bipartisan supporters say the legislation protects both gay marriage and religious liberties. Sen Lummis is among them.
Critics of the bill say ROMA will do for marriage what the Inflation Reduction Act did for the economy. It will make matters worse. Like most progressive legislation, the real goal of the bill, opponents say, is to hollow out traditional, Christian-based culture and wear its skin like a trophy.
HR 8404 was introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY, on July 18th. It passed the next day with a vote of 267-157 the next day. Liz Cheney was among the House Republicans who voted for it.
The U.S. Senate took it up on Nov. 14. Lummis joined 11 of the most liberal Republicans in the Senate, including Mitt Romney, in advancing the bill on a 62-37 vote. In voting yea, Lummis helped push the Democrats’ margin of victory past the 60-vote threshold needed to thwart a Republican filibuster.
Wyoming’s other senator, John Barrasso, vote reliably against the bill’s introduction.
At its most base level, the bill redefines marriage at the federal level contrary to Biblical views. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, buoyed by the defeat of any Republican filibuster, promised a final vote on the Monday following the Thanksgiving recess.
In response to questions about her vote, Lummis issued a lengthy statement on November 21 defending her position. The Cheyenne Republican said her vote was made with the understanding that “the religious liberties of people in Wyoming are strongly protected, that no one is forced to perform a marriage ceremony, or that no religious institution is forced to employ an individual in a marriage not in line with their values.”
Others are not so sure since the legislation threatens “civil action” by the Attorney General, Department of Justice or any person who feels harmed by a violation of the bill. The clause serves as a reminder of a Colorado cake baker whose Christian beliefs in marriage have been repeatedly challenged in lawsuits.
In the letter justifying her vote, Lummis also flatly rejects the notion that the bill establishes a national policy “in favor of same sex marriage.”
Lummis lays out her legal arguments in detail, concluding that the Respect for Marriage Act provides protection for Wyoming’s religious institutions which hold traditional beliefs about marriage. The Senator notes Wyoming Statute 20-1-101 defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
Not all her colleagues in and out of the Senate are convinced the bill is as benign as Lummis believes, though. The Wyoming Republican Party, in a letter written Saturday by Vice Chairman Pastor David Holland, asks Lummis “to reverse your stance on this misnamed act.”
Rev. Holland’s letter makes several points. One is that the legislation creates a special, protected class of people, homosexuals and lesbians, and others, “who are, in the words of George Orwell, ‘more equal than others.’”
Another key legal point made in the letter printed on Wyoming GOP letterhead is that the U.S. Constitution does not grant “the federal government authority to define or dictate matters concerning marriage.”
This legal point may be the ultimate undoing of Respect for Marriage Act; it’s lack of respect for the Constitution. Legal challenges are expected.
Several groups contend that if enacted, ROMA will be struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court for the same reasons the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act was dismantled. DOMA was written as a bulwark against the erosion of traditional values. Like Wyoming state law, Congress used DOMA to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
Ironically, the same cast of Democrats behind ROMA now were behind DOMA then. The 1996 law received bipartisan support including from then U.S. Sen. Joe Biden and U.S. Rep. Chuck Schumer. President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, signed it into law.
After its passage, DOMA faced numerous lawsuits and repeal efforts. In the 2013 case U.S v Windsor, the Supreme Court struck down the provision that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Critics of ROMA say that if Congress did not have the right to define marriage in 1996 with DOMA, it does not have the right to do so under the Respect for Marriage Act.
It’s unclear how the floor fight in the Senate over cultural and religious values expressed in the bill will play out. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah is promising to push back against the legislation with an amendment protects religious dissent. The amendment has attracted 13 co-sponsors so far. Among the signers are some of the biggest conservatives in the Senate, including Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Ben Sasse, Ron Johnson and Rick Scott.
Neither Sens. Barrasso or Lummis have signed Lee’s amendment or indicated how they’ll vote on it.
Debate over the main bill will be limited. With a Republican filibuster blocked, the senate is scheduled to invoke cloture this week, cutting off debate and putting the bill on a fast track to passage.
