Cruz Statement on Vote Against So-Called Respect for Marriage Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) made the following comments after voting against the so-called Respect for Marriage Act:

“The so-called Respect for Marriage Act is going to set the stage for the Biden IRS to target people of faith, and in particular, to deny tax exempt status to churches, charities, universities, and K-12 schools. This bill creates a federal cause of action to sue institutions that believe marriage is the union of one man and one woman. There are going to be hundreds of lawsuits filed all across this country, forcing underfunded defendants to settle and violate their beliefs or close their doors. That's what the Democrats want. And 12 Republicans went along with it. 

“I was proud to support my friend Mike Lee’s amendment, which would have prohibited the IRS from targeting institutions based on their support for traditional marriage. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats voted it down. And without Mike Lee’s amendment, this bill empowers the politicized bureaucrats in the Biden administration to target people of faith. If Republicans had stood strong, they could have forced Democrats to include the Lee amendment. But the sad truth is that not enough Republicans were willing to stand and fight for religious liberty.”

One concern with the Respect for Marriage Act is that it would force Texas to recognize any type of marriage from every other state, regardless of Texas law. Sen. Cruz filed an amendment to the bill that would have ensured states would not be forced to accept polygamous, incestual or child marriages from other states.

Read the amendment here.

 

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