HJRES 45 · 112th Congress 2011–2013, ended

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage.

Introduced Mar 3, 2011 Originated House Sponsor Paul C. Broun R-GA

Latest action · Mar 21, 2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution.

Progress

Where this resolution reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedMar 3, 2011
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Constitutional Amendment - Marriage Protection Amendment - Defines marriage in the United States as consisting only of the union of a man and a woman. Prohibits either the U.S. Constitution or the constitution of any state from being construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon any other union.

Cosponsors 32

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 3, 2011 to May 16, 2012; 21 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
R-OH	Bill Johnson	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-MI	Dan Benishek	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-IN	Dan Burton	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-TN	David P. Roe	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-SC	Jeff Duncan	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-FL	Jeff Miller	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-TX	Joe Barton	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-IL	Joe Walsh	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-PA	Joseph R. Pitts	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-TX	Louie Gohmert	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-GA	Lynn A. Westmoreland	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-IN	Marlin A. Stutzman	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-AL	Mo Brooks	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-GA	Phil Gingrey	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-TX	Randy Neugebauer	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-OH	Robert E. Latta	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-NJ	Scott Garrett	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-OH	Steve Chabot	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-MI	Tim Walberg	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-MO	Vicky Hartzler	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-MO	W. Todd Akin	Original	Mar 3, 2011
R-OH	Bob Gibbs		Apr 12, 2011
R-TN	Diane Black		Apr 12, 2011
R-VA	J. Randy Forbes		Apr 12, 2011
R-MN	John Kline		Apr 12, 2011
R-MN	Michele Bachmann		Apr 12, 2011
R-VA	Robert J. Wittman		Apr 12, 2011
R-TX	Sam Johnson		Apr 12, 2011
R-AL	Spencer Bachus		Apr 12, 2011
R-VA	Robert Hurt		Oct 3, 2011
R-NC	Walter B. Jones		Mar 7, 2012
D-NC	Mike McIntyre		May 16, 2012

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Judiciary Committee	Referred Mar 3, 2011
	Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee	Referred Mar 21, 2011

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

Mar 21, 2011Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution.
Mar 3, 2011Introduced in House
Mar 3, 2011Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

In the Congressional Record 1

Days the Record’s own index lists this resolution, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

Where	In the Record	Members	Date
House	Lists H1577H.J. Res. 45-46	—	Mar 3, 2011

Research

What has been written about this resolution: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article V of the Constitution. The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the page H1577.

CRS reports 1

Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this resolution or the law it became, newest first.

Cite it 1

Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.

Product	Title	Kind	Published
RL31201	Family Law: Congress’s Authority to Legislate on Domestic Relations Questions Archived	Report	Sep 13, 2012

Titles 1

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage.

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Families.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Mar 3, 2011Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this resolution on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.