H.R.3567: Respect for Marriage Act of 2009

The Respect for Marriage Act of 2009, or RFMA, is a proposed bill in the United States House of Representatives that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and allow the U.S. federal government to provide benefits to couples in a same-sex marriage; the bill would not compel individual states to recognize same-sex marriages. The bill was introduced by U.S. Representatives Jerrold Nadler of New York, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Jared Polis of Colorado on September 15, 2009, and had 91 original cosponsors. As of April 22, 2010, it had 109 cosponsors. It is supported by former U.S. Representative Bob Barr, original sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Act, and former President Bill Clinton, who signed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.

Background
Until 1996, the Federal Government of the United States customarily recognized marriages conducted legally in any state for the purpose of federal legislation. Over fears that Hawaii would legalize same-sex marriage through a pending lawsuit at the time (which did not occur), Congress swiftly passed the Defense of Marriage Act, which, among other things, carves out an exception forbidding the federal government from recognizing valid state same-sex marriages.

Bill provisions
H.R. 3567 amends Section 7 of title 1 in the United States Code to read:

"(a) For the purposes of any Federal law in which marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered married if that individual's marriage is valid in the State where the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered into outside any State, if the marriage is valid in the place where entered into and the marriage could have been entered into in a State.

(b) In this section, the term `State' means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States."