What a Difference a Day Makes

Floor Speech

Mr. GUTIÉRREZ. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, a short time after the Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act violated the Constitution of the United States, an immigration judge in New York stopped the deportation of a man who was legally married to an American citizen.

According to press reports, the bonds of marriage that tied Sean, an American citizen, to Steven, a native of Colombia, were invisible in the eyes of the law before 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time yesterday; but after the Supreme Court announcement, the bonds of marriage that drew these two individuals together in love and in the sight of God all of a sudden became visible to the United States Government. They materialized before our eyes, allowing a spouse of a U.S. citizen to live peacefully in the United States with his spouse as our immigration laws intended. What a difference a day makes.

Well, actually, this step towards justice took a great deal longer than a day. I'm proud that the Supreme Court finally caught up to Sean and Steven. I'm glad that the law of the land finally caught up to the American people, who generally feel that marriage equality, like other forms of equality, is a good thing. I'm glad the Supreme Court caught up to the 21st century, and I'm glad the Supreme Court caught up to me. In fact, what does a 21st century Congressman do on such occasions? I tweeted. And what did I tweet? ``I told you so.''

It was right here on this spot, on July 11, 1996, that the House of Representatives passed DOMA. I came to this well and walked up to the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts, Barney Frank, who controlled the time on the Democratic side, and I asked him if I could speak on the bill. I had a great deal of respect for the gentleman from Massachusetts, and I have a great deal of respect for him today, now that he's happily retired and happily married. But on that particular day, he said to me, Luis, I have no time for people who are against the bill. Shoo. Go away.

Who knows, maybe it was a mild case of profiling. He saw a Latino Catholic from the Midwest and said he can't be a friend. I assured the gentleman that as a Chicago alderman, as a Congressman--you know something, just as a man--I was against discrimination, bigotry, and unfairness wherever and whenever I saw it and that I had fought in Chicago to pass a groundbreaking ordinance on LGBT equality in the 1980s. The gentleman from Massachusetts smiled, welcomed me to the team, and yielded me 3 1/2 minutes.

I went back to check the Record to see what I had said on that night, and you know what? The 2013 me agrees wholeheartedly with the 1996 me. I pointed out that the supporters of DOMA were wrapping themselves up in family values when, in fact, they were preventing families from being recognized as families.

I don't know many Americans--regardless of their political party, race, religion, or sexual orientation--who don't believe that family values are vitally important. But I also don't know many Americans who want a couple of hundred politicians in Washington to impose their values on everyone else's families.

Let me tell you about some very basic values I think we're talking about when we stand up against this bill: the values of people who love each other; people who share each other's lives; people who care about their future and the future of those around them; people who want to make a commitment that is legal and official and is important to them. To me, that sounds like family values.

I am proud to have spoken up; I am proud to have voted against that bill; and I am proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder with Barney Frank and other heroes who said ``no'' and today say ``I told you so.''

Now we need to take another vital step right away. The immigration judge that stopped Steven's deportation because of his legal marriage to an American citizen was absolutely right, but we need to make sure our immigration law reflects the post-DOMA reality across the board. If the Obama administration needs to write regulations to make sure our immigration laws match the Constitution of our Nation, then they better get to work. We can't afford delay.

Same-sex couples form families. Our immigration laws are supposed to honor families. So, Mr. President, please make it clear, from your office on down that family unity means all families. We've waited long enough.

The Highest Court in the land helped us take another step against discrimination. Now we must make sure that the administration of the law catches up with the letter and the spirit of the law. All families, like Steven and Sean, must be recognized as families for the purposes of our immigration law.

What a difference a day makes.

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Amodei). Members are reminded to address their remarks to the Chair.

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