Wisconsin's Democratic Senator and one of Minnesota's Democratic Senators need a swift kick in the you-know-where. Here's why, and here's how to give it to them.
Two days ago Senator Diane Feinstein introduced S.598, A bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure respect for State regulation of marriage, aka, repealing DOMA. For information on the significance of this bill, you can read Clarknt67's excellent reclisted diary regarding that announcement.
The first step in passing S.598 is for hearings to be held in the Senate Judiciary Committee. That committee would then vote on the bill, with a majority (10 of 18) needed to advance it onto the Senate floor. There are 10 Democrats and 8 Republicans on the committee. It is extremely unlikely (as in snowball in hell percentage survival rates) that any of the Republicans on the committee will support the repeal of DOMA, leaving it that all 10 Democrats' support will be necessary.
Eight of the ten Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are co-sponsors of the bill. That leaves two, Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, without a stance.
Adam Bink of the Courage Campaign contacted both of their offices yesterday and determined that neither of them has committed to supporting the bill:
I just got off the phone with the offices of Democratic Sens. Kohl (D-WI) and Klobuchar (D-MN), who are not co-sponsors and told me they have not yet taken a position on the bill itself yet. To my knowledge, no Republicans on the committee have taken a position on this bill, either. So we are two shy.
That's where you and your swift kick comes in.
If you live in Wisconsin or Minnesota, you know what to do:
Amy Klobuchar
Washington office: 202-224-3244, 1-888-224-9043
Local offices: 612-727-5220, 507-288-5321, 218-287-2219, 218-741-9690
Email:
web email page
US Mail Washington: 302 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
US Mail local: 1200 Washington Avenue South, Suite 250, Minneapolis, MN 55415
Herb Kohl
Washington office: (202) 224-5653, 1-800-247-5645
Local offices: (715) 832-8424, (608) 264-5338, (414) 297-4451, (920) 738-1640
Email:
web email page
US Mail Washington: 330 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
US Mail local: 310 W. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 950, Milwaukee, WI 53203
Contact them and tell them you want them to co-sponsor S.598, or at the very least make a public statement in support of the legislation.
And if you do call, let everyone know in the comments what happened.
There's absolutely no reason on Earth why two solid Democrats should not be supporting this bill, legislation which undoes what the President of the United States and his Attorney General have proclaimed is an unconstitutional law.
In fact, there is no reason why every Democratic Senator should not be a co-sponsor of this legislation. The truth is that, at the moment, only 20 out of 53 are. But that's for the future.
The present belongs to Minnesota and Wisconsin. Will your Senators step up?
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The counterpart House bill (HR 1116) and its co-sponsor list (currently 108).