Press Releases
Nadler Urges Congress to Move Faster to Repeal DOMA and Extend Domestic Partner Benefits
Washington, DC,
June 3, 2010
Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, voiced support for President Obama’s extension of benefits to same-sex domestic partners of federal employees, but reiterated the pressing need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), via Nadler’s Respect for Marriage Act, and to pass the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act – two urgent legislative actions to provide full federal obligations and protections for LGBT individuals and families.
Nadler issued the following statement: “I commend President Obama for his continued efforts to identify and extend benefits to federal employees and their families. For those who are eligible, these reforms bring real relief and represent an important step toward LGBT equality. But I am extremely disappointed that these changes are so limited and piecemeal, still extending only to certain workers and providing access only to certain benefits, falling dramatically short of the actual needs of the LGBT community. LGBT Americans and their families should not have to wait until we can identify and address every protection, one at a time. Full recognition and equal treatment under the law are long overdue. “While I strongly support the President’s call for passage of the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, which would bring further relief for federal employees, I am disappointed that he failed to mention the need to repeal DOMA, as he has previously. I expect him to take a more active role in ending DOMA, and I look forward to working with him on passing my legislation, the Respect for Marriage Act. The Respect for Marriage Act, which has 111 co-sponsors in the House, would provide all LGBT Americans and their families the full measure of obligations and protections of federal law. Let us move without further delay to repeal DOMA and provide LGBT Americans the rights that are guaranteed to them in the U.S. Constitution.” |