Washington, D.C. - U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady (R- The Woodlands) a long time advocate of traditional family values and supporter of the Federal Marriage Amendment today voted in favor of  H.R.3313 the Marriage Protection Act.  The bill passed, 233-194.

 

“Ultimately I believe a constitutional amendment will be needed to preserve marriage, but this approach at least gives each state the right to protect their own laws governing marriage,” said Brady. 

 

The Marriage Protection Act keeps state Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) laws out of the jurisdiction of federal courts. It leaves the final authority of whether states must accept same-sex marriage licenses in the hands of the states themselves.

 

Limiting judicial review is an authority granted to Congress in the U.S. Constitution, and was recently used by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) to limit federal court jurisdiction over timber management in his home state. It originated with the very first Judiciary Act of 1789. 

 

(Article I, Section 8 and Article III, Sections 1 and 2 of the Constitution grant Congress explicit and exclusive authority to create federal courts lower than the Supreme Court and the scope of the cases they hear.) 

 

Texas and 37 other states currently have DOMA laws on their books defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.  Without this protection, a federal judge could rule Texas or any other state’s DOMA law invalid, and force them to recognize same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts or California.