Mr. President, over the past few years we have seen remarkable progress in one of the defining civil rights issues of our era--ensuring that all lawfully married couples are treated equally under the…
Mr. President, over the past few years we have seen remarkable progress in one of the defining civil rights issues of our era--ensuring that all lawfully married couples are treated equally under the law. In 2011, when I chaired the first Congressional hearing to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, only five states, including Vermont, recognized same-sex marriage. Following the Supreme Court's historic decision last month to not review decisions from several circuits
striking down same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional, same-sex couples in 35 States and the District of Columbia are, or will soon be, able to marry. This is welcome progress. In modern America, no person should face discrimination based on the one they love.
Despite this' tremendous progress, there is still more to be done. As I said when the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, ``All couples who are lawfully married under state law, including in Vermont, should be entitled to the same Federal protections afforded to all other married couples.'' Court challenges will continue in the remaining states that do not recognize marriage equality. In Congress, there are several steps we can take immediately to help ensure our federal laws treat all marriages equally.
Surprisingly, the Copyright Act, which protects our Nation's diverse creative voices, still bears vestiges of discrimination. A provision in the Act grants rights to surviving spouses of copyright owners only if the marriage is recognized in the owner's state of residence at the time he or she dies. This means that a writer who lawfully marries his or her partner in Vermont or California is not a ``spouse'' under the Copyright Act if they move to Florida, Georgia, or one of the other states that do not currently recognize their marriage.
Congress should close this discriminatory loophole to ensure our federal statutes live up to our Nation's promise of equality under the law. It is wrong for the federal government to deny benefits or privileges to couples who have lawfully wed.
Today I am introducing the Copyright and Marriage Equality Act in the Senate to correct this problem. The bill, a version of which was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representatives Derek Kilmer, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Jared Polis, amends the Copyright Act to look simply at whether a couple is lawfully married--not where a married couple happens to live when the copyright owner dies. It will ensure that the rights attached to the works of our Nation's gay and lesbian authors, musicians, painters, photographers, and other creators pass to their widows and widowers. Artists are the creative lifeblood of our Nation, and our laws should protect their families equally.
Statutes like the Copyright Act, or laws governing the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs which also contain remnants of discrimination, are no place for inequality in our country. It is time to fix these outdated laws once and for all. I urge the Senate to pass this important piece of legislation.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
