Pennsylvanians in the U.S. House of Representatives and Responses to USCCB Backed Marriage Legislation, as of 6 7 14

As this information gathers responses - thus far - to USCCB requests, it belongs in parish bulletins.... 

Kudos to Representatives Mike Kelly, Joe Pitts, and Keith Rothfus, as well as Bill Shuster!  Bravo!

HJ Res 51 - As per Archbishop Cordileone's 2/19/14 letter to Representative Tim Huelskamp,

• "As the Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, I write in strong support of your resolution, H. J. Res. 51, the Marriage Protection Amendment to the U.S. Constitution....Recently, a number of federal courts have ruled against the constitutionality of state marriage laws that honor the reality of marriage as the union of one man and one woman....An amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the only remedy in law against this judicial activism that may ultimately end with federal judges declaring that the U.S. Constitution requires states, and consequently the federal government, to redefine marriage. Just as Roe v. Wade mandated a constitutional right to abortion throughout the country, we now have the possibility of another bad decision mandating a constitutional change in the meaning of marriage....I am, therefore, very pleased to support the Marriage Protection Amendment and urge your colleagues to join H. J. Res. 51 as cosponsors" (http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/promotion-and-defense-of-marriage/upload/Ltr-to-Huelskamp-re-MPA.pdf)

HR 3133 - As per the USCCB's "Marriage and Religious Freedom Act Backgrounder",

• "The Marriage and Religious Freedom Act (H.R. 3133, S. 1808) would bar the federal government from discriminating against individuals and organizations based upon their religiously-motivated belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage....The Act is needed because of growing intolerance toward religiously-minded individuals and organizations who want to live by their conviction that marriage is the union of one man and one woman or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage....In light of... government action against those who believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage, it is vital that Congress act now to prevent similar intolerance at the federal level" (http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/promotion-and-defense-of-marriage/marriage-and-religious-freedom-act-backgrounder.cfm).

HR 3829 - As per Archbishop Cordileone's 1/10/14 letter to Representative Randy Weber, 

• "I am...very pleased to support the State Marriage Defense Act of 2014 and urge your colleagues to join H.R. 3829 as cosponsors" (http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/promotion-and-defense-of-marriage/upload/Ltr-to-Weber-re-SMDA.pdf).