Skip to content

Kaine Signs Amicus Brief Challenging DOMA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine signed an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court today by 212 members of Congress challenging Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which created a federal definition of marriage for the first time. The brief concludes there is no legitimate federal interest in denying married same-sex couples the same legal security, rights and responsibilities that federal law provides to all other married couples, and that DOMA undermines the welfare of American families.

The case at hand, U.S. v. Edith Schlain Windsor, involves the federal government denying a same-sex couple protections from the estate tax that other married couples receive. When Edith “Edie” Windsor’s spouse passed away, her inheritance was significantly decreased because of section 3 of DOMA, and they were treated as strangers under the law despite having a relationship that had lasted more than 40 years.

In 2006, Kaine campaigned against an amendment to the Virginia constitution that banned any legal recognition of same-sex relationships. On his first day as Governor, he signed an executive order that banned discrimination against state employees based on race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, political affiliation, veteran status or disability.

“I’m proud to join 212 members of the House and Senate in filing this brief with the Supreme Court that details why we believe Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act should be ruled unconstitutional,” said Kaine. “I'm encouraged by the Supreme Court's decision to take up the Defense of Marriage Act and hope there's an end in sight to the continued discrimination against thousands of committed couples across the country.”

The full list of signatories follows:

Lead signatories:

Harry Reid

Richard J. Durbin

Charles E. Schumer

Patty Murray

Dianne Feinstein

Patrick J. Leahy

Nancy Pelosi

Steny H. Hoyer

James E. Clyburn

Jerrold Nadler

John Conyers, Jr.

Jared Polis

David N. Cicilline

Sean Patrick Maloney

Mark Pocan

Kyrsten Sinema

Mark Takano

Senators:

Tammy Baldwin

Michael F. Bennet

Richard Blumenthal

Barbara Boxer

Sherrod Brown

Maria Cantwell

Benjamin Cardin

Thomas R. Carper

Christopher Coons

William “Mo” Cowan

Al Franken

Kirsten Gillibrand

Tom Harkin

Martin Heinrich

Mazie K. Hirono

Tim Kaine

Angus S. King, Jr.

Amy Klobuchar

Frank R. Lautenberg

Claire McCaskill

Robert Menendez

Jeff Merkley

Barbara A. Mikulski

Christopher S. Murphy

Patty Murray

Bernie Sanders

Brian Schatz

Charles E. Schumer

Jeanne Shaheen

Debbie Stabenow

Jon Tester

Mark Udall

Mark R. Warner

Elizabeth Warren

Sheldon Whitehouse

Ron Wyden

Representatives:

Robert E. Andrews

Ron Barber

Karen Bass

Joyce Beatty

Xavier Becerra

Ami Bera

Timothy H. Bishop

Earl Blumenauer

Suzanne Bonamici

Robert A. Brady

Bruce L. Braley

Corinne Brown

Julia Brownley

Cheri Bustos

Lois Capps

Michael E. Capuano

Tony Cárdenas

John C. Carney, Jr.

André Carson

Matthew A. Cartwright

Kathy Castor

Joaquin Castro

Judy Chu

Yvette D. Clarke

Wm. Lacy Clay

Emanuel Cleaver

Steve Cohen

Gerald E. Connolly

Joe Courtney

Joseph Crowley

Elijah E. Cummings

Danny K. Davis

Susan A. Davis

Diana DeGette

John K. Delaney

Rosa L. DeLauro

Suzan K. DelBene

Theodore E. Deutch

John D. Dingell

Lloyd Doggett

Michael F. Doyle

Tammy Duckworth

Donna F. Edwards

Keith Ellison

Eliot L. Engel

Anna G. Eshoo

Elizabeth H. Esty

Sam Farr

Chaka Fattah

Bill Foster

Lois Frankel

Marcia L. Fudge

Tulsi Gabbard

John Garamendi

Joe Garcia

Alan Grayson

Al Green

Raúl M. Grijalva

Luis V. Gutierrez

Janice Hahn

Colleen W. Hanabusa

Alcee L. Hastings

Denny Heck

Brian Higgins

James A. Himes

Rush Holt

Michael M. Honda

Steven A. Horsford

Jared Huffman

Steve Israel

Sheila Jackson Lee

Hakeem S. Jeffries

Eddie Bernice Johnson

Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr.

Marcy Kaptur

William R. Keating

Joseph P. Kennedy III

Daniel T. Kildee

Derek Kilmer

Ann Kirkpatrick

Ann M. Kuster

James R. Langevin

John B. Larson

Barbara Lee

Sander M. Levin

John Lewis

David Loebsack

Zoe Lofgren

Alan S. Lowenthal

Nita M. Lowey

Michelle Lujan Grisham

Daniel B. Maffei

Carolyn B. Maloney

Edward J. Markey

Doris O. Matsui

Carolyn McCarthy

Betty McCollum

Jim McDermott

James P. McGovern

Jerry McNerney

Gregory W. Meeks

Grace Meng

Michael H. Michaud

George Miller

Gwen Moore

James P. Moran

Patrick Murphy

Grace F. Napolitano

Richard E. Neal

Gloria Negrete McLeod

Richard M. Nolan

Eleanor Holmes Norton

Beto O’Rourke

William L. Owens

Frank Pallone, Jr.

Bill Pascrell, Jr.

Ed Pastor

Donald M. Payne, Jr.

Ed Perlmutter

Gary C. Peters

Scott H. Peters

Chellie Pingree

David E. Price

Mike Quigley

Charles B. Rangel

Lucille Roybal-Allard

Raul Ruiz

C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger

Bobby L. Rush

Tim Ryan

Linda T. Sánchez

Loretta Sanchez

John P. Sarbanes

Janice D. Schakowsky

Adam B. Schiff

Bradley S. Schneider

Allyson Y. Schwartz

Robert C. “Bobby” Scott

José E. Serrano

Carol Shea-Porter

Brad Sherman

Albio Sires

Louise McIntosh Slaughter

Adam Smith

Jackie Speier

Eric Swalwell

Mike Thompson

John F. Tierney

Dina Titus

Paul Tonko

Niki Tsongas

Chris Van Hollen

Juan Vargas

Marc A. Veasey

Nydia M. Velázquez

Timothy J. Walz

Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Maxine Waters

Henry A. Waxman

Peter Welch

John A. Yarmuth

###