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. CUMMINGS, 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 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

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•HR 197 IH

A BILL 

To repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure respect 

for State regulation of marriage. 

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. REPEAL OF SECTION ADDED TO TITLE 28, UNITED 

7 STATES CODE, BY SECTION 2 OF THE DE8 FENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT. 

9 Section 1738C of title 28, United States Code, is re10 pealed, and the table of sections at the beginning of chap11 ter 115 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by 

12 striking the item relating to that section. 

13 SEC. 3. MARRIAGE RECOGNITION. 

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

15 to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘§ 7. Marriage 

17 ‘‘(a) For the purposes of any Federal law in which 

18 marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered 

19 married if that individual’s marriage is valid in the State 

20 where the marriage was entered into or, in the case of 

21 a marriage entered into outside any State, if the marriage 

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•HR 197 IH

1 is valid in the place where entered into and the marriage 

2 could have been entered into in a State. 

3 ‘‘(b) In this section, the term ‘State’ means a State, 

4 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

5 Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United 

6 States.’’. 

Æ 

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