II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4556 

To repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure respect for State regulation 

of marriage, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 19, 2022 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure respect 

for State regulation of marriage, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Respect for Marriage 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FULL FAITH AND CREDIT GIVEN TO MARRIAGE 

7 EQUALITY. 

8 Chapter 115 of title 28, United States Code, is 

9 amended by striking section 1738C and inserting the fol10 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1738C. Certain acts, records, and proceedings and 

2 the effect thereof 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘State’ 

4 has the meaning given the term in section 7 of title 1. 

5 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—No person acting under color of 

6 law of a State may deny— 

7 ‘‘(1) full faith and credit to any public act, 

8 record, or judicial proceeding of any other State per9 taining to a marriage between 2 individuals, on the 

10 basis of the sex, gender, race, ethnicity, or national 

11 origin of those individuals; or 

12 ‘‘(2) a right or claim arising from such a mar13 riage on the basis that such marriage would not be 

14 recognized under the law of such other State on the 

15 basis of the sex, gender, race, ethnicity, or national 

16 origin of those individuals. 

17 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The 

18 Attorney General may bring a civil action in the appro19 priate district court of the United States against any per20 son who violates subsection (b) for declaratory and injunc21 tive relief. 

22 ‘‘(d) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any person who 

23 is harmed by a violation of subsection (b) may bring a 

24 civil action in the appropriate district court of the United 

25 States against the person who violated such subsection for 

26 declaratory and injunctive relief.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. MARRIAGE RECOGNITION. 

2 Section 7 of title 1, United States Code, is amended 

3 to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘§ 7. Marriage 

5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘State’ 

6 means a State, the District of Columbia, the Common7 wealth of Puerto Rico, any other territory or possession 

8 of the United States, or an Indian Tribe. 

9 ‘‘(b) MARRIAGE.—For the purposes of any Federal 

10 law in which marital status is a factor, an individual shall 

11 be considered married if— 

12 ‘‘(1) the marriage of the individual is valid in 

13 the State where the marriage was entered into; or 

14 ‘‘(2) in the case of a marriage entered into out15 side any State, the marriage— 

16 ‘‘(A) is valid in the place where entered 

17 into; and 

18 ‘‘(B) could have been entered into in a 

19 State.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

21 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

22 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend23 ment to any person, entity, government, or circumstance, 

24 is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, 

25 any amendment made thereby, or the application of such 


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1 provision or amendment to all other persons, entities, gov2 ernments, or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby. 

Æ 


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