Thanks to North Carolina’s Senators Burr and Tillis, the misnamed dis-“Respect for Marriage Act” (HR8404) has passed the Senate and now returns to the House for approval of their amendments. That vote is likely to occur this week.
HR8404 redefines marriage between one man and one woman to include same-sex couples, and puts freedoms of religious entities at grave risk. Unfortunately, changes to the bill do not address the underlying threats to marriage and religious freedom. As a result, another one of the 47 House Republicans who initially voted for HR8404 announced their withdrawal of support. In his announcement, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) claimed Democrats failed “to provide legitimate safeguards for faith-based organizations” that hold “deeply-held religious beliefs” about natural marriage. All Republican Congressmen from North Carolina voted against the bill the first time it came up in the House, and we expect them to do so again.
Would you consider using this handy tool to contact or recontact your member of the U.S. House and ask them to vote against HR8404 again? The U.S. Senate has not cured the defects, and the threat to religious freedom is still alive and well. Help us defeat this harmful bill that has been advanced during the lame duck session of Congress.
