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United States · Bill · S

S. 598 (112th)

Respect for Marriage Act of 2011

openUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

16 March 2011

Last action

10 November 2011 · Reported

Status

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 228.

Sponsors

Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA], Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT], Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Akaka, Daniel K. [D-HI-2], Richard Blumenthal, Rep. Boxer, Barbara [D-CA-6], Christopher Coons, Richard Durbin, Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN], Sen. Inouye, Daniel K. [D-HI], Sen. Kerry, John F. [D-MA], Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ], Patty Murray, Jeff Merkley, Charles Schumer, Jeanne Shaheen, Sen. Udall, Mark [D-CO], Sheldon Whitehouse, Ron Wyden, Maria Cantwell, Sen. Kohl, Herb [D-WI], Rep. Harkin, Tom [D-IA-5], Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH], Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM], Rep. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD-3], Michael Bennet, Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM], Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Mikulski, Barbara A. [D-MD], Sen. Levin, Carl [D-MI], Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ], John Reed

Subjects

Defence

Source updated

10 August 2026

Defence

Summary

Respect for Marriage Act of 2011 - Amends the Defense of Marriage Act to repeal a provision that prohibited a state, territory, possession, or Indian tribe from being required to recognize any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a same sex marriage. Amends the federal rules of construction added by such Act concerning the definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" to provide that, for 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. Removes the definition of "spouse" (currently, a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife).

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

  1. 16 March 2011

    Introduced

    Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

    Source: IntroReferral

  2. 16 March 2011

    Introduced

    Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1753-1754)

    Source: IntroReferral

  3. 16 March 2011

    Introduced

    Introduced in Senate

    Source: IntroReferral

  4. 20 July 2011

    Committee

    Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 112-120.

    Source: Committee

  5. 10 November 2011

    Calendars

    Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 228.

    Source: Calendars

  6. 10 November 2011

    Reported

    Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy without amendment. Without written report.

    Source: Committee

  7. 10 November 2011

    Reported

    Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.

    Source: Committee

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

Documents

6 official files

Sponsors

Related records

Sources

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