Political Quotes

“I rise today to speak about the Respect for Marriage Act. I was proud to introduce this bill earlier this summer with Senators Baldwin, Collins, and Portman. I am greatly encouraged by yesterday's bipartisan vote of 62 to 37 to advance the bill and continue moving this important legislation forward. The Respect for Marriage Act would guarantee legal protections for millions of marriages in the United States by repealing the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act and ensuring that marriages entered into legally are given full faith and credit by every State and the Federal Government. Simply put, Americans should be free to marry the person they love, regardless of sexual orientation or race, without fear of discrimination or fear that their marriages will be invalidated. This is a straightforward bill. It merely codifies the existing requirement that the Federal Government and every State recognize legal marriages. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to marry for same-sex couples. And 55 years ago, in Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court ruled that ``the freedom to marry . . . a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State.'' These decisions also reflect the will of the American people. Over the past few decades, public support for same-sex marriage and interracial marriage has grown exponentially.…”