Rep. Jason Chaffetz conceded Thursday that Republicans will not be able to force votes within a tight 30-day limit allowed by law to rescind a just-passed District of Columbia ordinance that recognizes same-sex marriages that were performed elsewhere.
But Chaffetz, ranking Republican on a subcommittee overseeing D.C. operations, said Republicans have come up with another way possibly to block it later — and at the same time prevent a new move to permit D.C. itself to license performance of same-sex marriages in the nation's capital.
"We introduced a bill," he said, noting that Congress can consider it at its leisure beyond the 30 days the law normally gives it to overturn D.C. ordinances it dislikes.
"It's called the D.C. Marriage Act, which defines marriage (in the District of Columbia) as between one man and one woman," Chaffetz said. He is among 30 co-sponsors of the bill introduced by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
Chaffetz said Republicans realized they could not get a vote within 30 days to rescind the current ordinance recognizing same-sex marriage performed elsewhere, "given the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate … The hope of passing something (in 30 days) was slim to none."
An added benefit of pushing a regular bill, he said, is, "We also know that the City Council is preparing to vote to give D.C. residents the opportunity to have same-sex marriage" — and the bill would also block that by defining marriage in D.C. as between one man and one woman.
Besides the bill, he said, "there are other tactics that we are preparing to employ" to block same-sex marriage in D.C., but he declined to elaborate on them.
Chaffetz said he has received plenty of questions about why he and Congress would interfere with ordinances passed by the D.C. City Council. He said the Constitution "states it is the responsibility of Congress to oversee the affairs of Washington, D.C."
Since he is the ranking Republican on the subcommittee, he said he has taken a central role in the fight against allowing same-sex marriage there.
He also said previously, "There are some things worth fighting for, and this is one of them. I happen to believe I represent the majority of Americans and the majority of D.C. residents" on this issue.
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