Pelosi Floor Speech on the Respect for Marriage Act

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks on the Floor of the House of Representatives in support of H.R. 8404, the Respect for Marriage Act. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm so honored to see you presiding on this very important legislation, and I thank the gentleman for yielding and for the leadership of bringing this important legislation to the Floor. Mr. Nadler has been in the lead on this for decades. Thank you, Mr. Nadler.

I rise in strong support for the Respect for Marriage Act, bipartisan and bicameral legislation to enshrine into law a fundamental freedom: the right to marry whomever you choose.

As radical Justices and right-wing politicians continue their assault on our basic rights, Democrats believe that the government has no place between you and the person you love. Let us salute the Judiciary Committee Chairman, Jerry Nadler, for his persistent leadership on this issue.

It was thirteen years ago, Chairman Nadler – along with [then-]Representative, now-Senator Tammy Baldwin, Senator Dianne Feinstein and others – introduced a bill by the same name to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. ‘Defense of Marriage' – proposed by somebody who had been married three times. We don't know which marriage he was defending.

And today, we will finally achieve that long-held goal. By the way, I don't care how many times somebody's married. I care about how they try to impose their hypocrisy on others.

Thank you, also, to the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus Chair David Cicilline and all the Members of the Caucus for being tireless voices in the fight for full equality.

Mr. Chairman, we are here because, just three weeks ago, the Republican-controlled Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade: ripping away a woman's freedom over her most intimate health decisions. These radical Justices took a wrecking ball to precedent of the Court and privacy in the Constitution – and placed even more of our cherished freedoms on the chopping block.

Don't take it from me. Indeed, as Associate Justice Clarence Thomas declared in his concurrence – this is what he said, these are his words: ‘In future cases, we should reconsider all of [this Court's] substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell. Because any substantive due process decision is demonstrably erroneous, we have a duty to correct the error established by those precedents.' In total defiance of the precedents of the Supreme Court, in total defiance of what some of the candidates for Justice on the Supreme Court testified that they supported – precedent – and they voted against it. And now want to go after other rights of privacy.

Make no mistake: while his legal reasoning is twisted and unsound, it is crucial that we take Justice Thomas – and the extremist movement behind him – at their word. This is what they intend to do. Indeed, just yesterday, a Republican Senator declared that the Obergefell decision was ‘clearly wrong' – plainly suggesting right-wing interests in taking aim at marriage equality. We must act now to defend same-sex and interracial marriage from the bigotry and extremism.

In the wake of the Dobbs decision, with marriage rights now squarely in Republican [crosshairs], Democrats are ferociously fighting back. With the landmark Respect for Marriage Act, we ensure marriage equality remains the law of the land – now and for generations to come. Importantly, this legislation will repeal the unconstitutional and discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act.

The Republicans knew that the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional when they passed it. You know why I know that? Because shortly thereafter, they introduced a bill to overturn – to make sure that the Defense of Marriage Act was not subjected to judicial review. Some of them proclaimed at that time that Marbury v. Madison, which established the principle of judicial review, was wrongly decided, and they wanted to rid the process of judicial review from the Defense of Marriage Act – recognizing, admitting that they knew it could not withstand judicial review.

Okay, so while it was sent – the Defense of Marriage – to the dustbin of history with United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges, our bill finally takes it off the books for good. That way, no future Administration or Majority in Congress can wield this appalling policy as a weapon against an LGBTQ loved one.

This legislation guarantees that no married couple can be denied equal protection under federal law. This is really very important: from tax provisions to Social Security benefits and more, even if the Court were to erase marriage freedom, God forbid. Finally, this legislation blocks states from denying recognition to valid out-of-state marriages, even if a state were to enact heinous restrictions.

By passing the Respect for Marriage Act today, House Democrats, in a bipartisan, bicameral – and I salute you, Mr. Chairman, for that announcement that you made – take another step to defend freedom for the American people.

Last week, our proud pro-choice, pro-women Democratic Majority passed two major bills to restore and protect health freedom. Our Ensuring Women's Health – Right to Reproductive Freedom Act will ensure that the fundamental right to travel and obtain needed health care remains in the hands of the American people – not in those of extreme right-wing politicians, which is the future House Republicans desire.

Later this week, the House will pass the Right to Contraception Act, so that every couple may determine the size and timing of their families as protected by Griswold vs Connecticut. Not just couples – people. Contraception – contraception. Can you believe they are going after contraception? Well, believe it – because they have been going after contraception for decades in the Congress. And now the Chief – Associate Justice has given us clear warning that this is in their sights.

The contrast could not be clearer: while Democrats work to protect and expand freedom in our country, Republicans seek to punish and control our most intimate personal decisions.

Mr. Speaker, it is outrageous and unconscionable that today a radical Republican Party seeks to wind back the clock on decades of hard-fought progress. As we pass this landmark legislation today, we salute the generations of activists and advocates, organizers and mobilizers who fought relentlessly to advance the all-American ideal of full equality for all.

I say often that our inside maneuvering can just go so far– the outside mobilization produces the best possible results. Personally, it's with some emotion – and I think about my close friends, the iconic Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin of San Francisco. They were an inspiration to so many of us in San Francisco and California and, indeed, the country – teaching us that equality is not about tolerance. It's about respect. It's about taking pride.

This bill makes crystal clear that every couple and their children– imagine you, if you are the children of marriage equality or interracial couple, and you see the Congress of the United States and the Supreme Court of the United States making an assault on your parents' marriage – how damaging that can be. This bill makes crystal clear that every couple and their children has the fundamental freedom to take pride in their marriage and have their marriage respected under the law.

With that, I urge a strong – hopefully strongly bipartisan – vote for the Respect [for] Marriage Act. I thank the Chairman for his work and yield back the balance of my time.