DOMA Repeal Bill Introduced

A bill that would repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was on Wednesday reintroduced in the U.S. House by N.Y. Rep. Jerrold Nadler.

In his reintroduction of the Respect for Marriage Act, Rep. Nadler was joined by Rep. John Conyers and openly gay Reps. Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Jared Polis, and David Cicilline. The Advocate reports that, “Sens. Diane Feinstein, Patrick Leahy and Kirsten Gillibrand plan to introduce a companion bill in the Senate.”

Nadler said the Obama administration’s decision to cease its defense of DOMA in federal court cases inspired the move to reintroduce the bill.

“The president’s move is another step in the increasing realization that there is no conceivable justification for DOMA, that it is motivated, was motivated, purely by irrational considerations and fear and that there is no rational basis that will stand up to a constitutional challenge,” Nadler said.

Nadler initially presented the bill in September of 2009. It earned 105 original co-sponsors in the House, but the Senate failed to introduce a companion bill.