House conservatives said Wednesday that “it’s time” for Congress to address the marriage debate and protect religious liberty at the national level, arguing for legislation that would prohibit the federal government from taking punitive actions against individuals who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman.
“It’s time for us to respond to what the American people want us to do on this issue,” Rep. Raúl Labrador, R-Idaho, said on Capitol Hill. “It’s an important issue in this society.”
The bill, called the First Amendment Defense Act, was introduced in both the House and Senate last year after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage. The measure aims to protect individuals who believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman from being punished by the federal government.
For example, the bill would bar federal government officials from revoking the tax-exempt status of religious schools, organizations or individuals for standing against same-sex marriage, or believing that sexual relations are reserved to marriage.
Despite having 166 House co-sponsors, the bill has been stuck in the Oversight and Government Reform Committee for 10 months. In order to move forward, Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, must schedule a hearing and markup.
“We have to make sure we’ve got all the right people on board, and also look how to structure such a hearing,” Chaffetz, a co-sponsor, told The Daily Signal in an interview earlier this month of the bill’s delay.
It’s “a big, weighty issue,” Chaffetz added, “and we want to make sure we lay the foundation properly.”
During a Wednesday press event with House conservatives hosted by The Heritage Foundation, Labrador said that it’s “incumbent” upon Chaffetz and House Speaker Paul Ryan, to “make sure that this bill doesn’t just get a hearing, that it gets a markup.”
Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and a co-sponsor of the legislation, said he plans to “keep pushing like we always do” to bring the measure to the House floor.
“This is good legislation,” he said. “I think we should have been working on [this issue] a long time ago frankly, but we’re going to keep pushing like we always do.”
Labrador also said the reason this election year has been an “anomaly” for the Republican Party is because the Republican-controlled Congress has failed to take action on issues voters care about, citing the marriage debate.
“There’s a large group of voters that are waiting for that response,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons that we see Donald Trump doing so well, because we don’t respond to the issues that our constituents are concerned about.”
The issue of marriage and religious liberty is currently playing out in some states, including Mississippi, Missouri, and North Carolina, which have witnessed protests on both sides of the debate.
This story was updated to include the current number of cosponsors.