U.S. Representative Mark Amodei (NV-02) is interviewed at Heidis Family Restaurant in Carson City, Nevada Monday, April 25, 2022.
Tuesday, July 19, 2022 | 5:06 p.m.
Nevada’s only Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives was the lone member of the state’s House delegation to vote against a bill Tuesday that would protect same-sex marriage across the country.
The House approved the Respect for Marriage Act on a vote of 267-157, with 47 Republicans joining all 220 Democrats to vote in favor of the legislation, which provides statutory authority for same-sex and interracial marriages. It also would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 that defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and spouse as a “person of the opposite sex.”
It would also codify new protections ensuring that no married couple can be denied federal protections and benefits based on sex, race, ethnicity or national origin.
Amodei, who represents Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District, said he took issue with the process. It took less than 24 hours for a bill to go from introduction to being called for a vote with no hearings and no acknowledgment of states that have already addressed the issue. Additionally, he said Nevadans already have dealt with the issue.
“At the state level, this issue has been dealt with by the people of Nevada in a straightforward and transparent fashion,” Amodei said in a statement. “They did not ask for, nor do they need direction from a body of 435 individuals – 431 of whom are not from Nevada. Nevada voters have said at the ballot box what they want the rules to be regarding same-sex marriage, abortion rights, how they want to run elections in Nevada, as well as other issues where political dictates from the federal government seek to fill a void where none exists.”
He wished the House would pass an immigration bill and make “meaningful policy changes at the border, on energy, or on housing costs.”
“Instead, we try to inject a federal solution into an issue where Nevada law is quite clear on the issue, and it is the product of voters expressing their will,” Amodei said in the statement. “I vote no.”
The Log Cabin Republicans, a Republican organization advocating for LBTQ+ rights, issued a statement thanking the 47 “forward-thinking” House Republicans who “made history today by rising above the Democrats’ partisan games and voting to codify marriage equality into federal law.”
“Log Cabin Republicans thanks these forward-thinking members for voting to settle this issue once and for all and move the Republican Party in line not just with the vast majority of the country, but with the majority of its own voters,” the statement says. “We will continue to work with our allies in Congress and elect more candidates in November who understand that inclusion wins. The future of our party and our nation depends on it.”
In the majority opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed the right to abortion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that right to an abortion was not in the Constitution.
And in a separate concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said the court should review other rulings with rights not specified in the Constitution, including its 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage, a 2003 decision striking down laws criminalizing gay sex and a 1965 decision declaring that married couples have a right to use contraception.
Thomas’ opinion led Democrats to become concerned the Supreme Court would seek to overturn those existing rights.
“Now, right-wing extremists are leading a cruel assault on even more of Nevadans’ most cherished and hard-won freedoms – including the right to marry the person they love,” Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford said in a statement. “The bipartisan, bicameral Respect for Marriage Act will enshrine marriage equality into federal law and prohibit state officials from discriminating against same-sex and interracial couples.”
The legislation now goes before the evenly-divided Senate, where it faces an uncertain future because of Republican opposition.
