GOP Sen. Bob Bennett Tries To Kill DC Marriage With HCR Amendment

Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) has attached an amendment to the health care reform bill that would suspend same-sex marriages in Washington, DC until the issue is put to a public vote.

Bennett is emerging as the most stalwart congressional opponent to same-sex marriage in the District. Earlier this month, he sought to attach a similar amendment to a Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization bill. But that amendment was ruled out of order. Bennett's latest attempt to force a referendum on the city's same-sex marriage law, which went into effect March. 3, has the support of GOP Sens. Roger Wicker (Miss), Pat Roberts (Kansas), Orrin Hatch (Utah), James M. Inhofe (Ok), and John Cornyn (Texas), according to the DCist blog. But Senate Democrats, who are trying to keep all GOP amendments off the reconciliation bill, are widely expected to kill Bennett's amendment, which was first reported by the New York Times. Still, Bennett's determination to force a public vote on same-sex marriage in the District has caught the attention of District leaders. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the District's non-voting representative in the House of Representatives, has stated she will have to remain on "daily vigil" to guard against congressional intervention over the issue.

And Sen. Bennett wins a few more brownie points from the knuckle-draggers back home.