参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默周三表示，他希望看到上议院现在就立法进行投票，以编纂同性和跨种族婚姻的权利，此前众议院有47名共和党人加入了民主党人在批准这项措施时周二晚上。
舒默在一次发言中说，他“对众议院获得的两党支持印象深刻。”他补充说:“我想把这个法案提交到议会。我们正在努力获得参议院共和党人的必要支持，以确保该法案获得通过。”
乔·拜登总统也希望参议院迅速采取措施，他的助手说，参议员应该“迅速行动”，将法案提交给他签字。从本质上来说，该提案要求所有州和联邦政府承认在特定州合法批准的同性和跨种族婚姻。
“我们需要这项立法，我们敦促国会尽快采取行动，”白宫新闻秘书郭佳欣·让-皮埃尔周三在空军一号上说。“这是这个国家绝大多数人支持的事情，就像他们支持恢复罗伊诉韦德案，停止全国堕胎禁令，保护使用避孕药具的权利一样。”
有人呼吁尽快将该法案提交议会，因为有人担心参议院的立法日程太满，无法在8月5日开始的为期一个月的休会前讨论该法案。
“我们有比时间更重要的事情，”民主党党鞭迪克·德宾周二表示。
舒默需要至少10名共和党人加入民主党核心小组的50名成员，以避免投票的阻挠。据一位女发言人说，西弗吉尼亚州的保守派民主党人乔·曼钦周三告诉记者，他对这项措施没有问题，但需要看到法案的细则。
多数党领袖要求威斯康星州参议员塔米·鲍德温(Tammy Baldwin)团结共和党。她告诉美国广播公司新闻，她一直在衡量支持和潜在的共同赞助者加入自己，参议员黛安范斯坦，D-加州。缅因州苏珊·科林斯;还有俄亥俄州的罗伯·波特曼。
“每天我们都在进步，”鲍德温说。“当你谈论平等权利和平等以及保护公民权利时，我想做昨天的一切，”她补充说。
但是犹他州共和党参议员米特·罗姆尼不同意。
他告诉美国广播公司新闻说:“显然没有紧迫性，因为法律不会很快改变。”"如果账单到了，我会评估它."
波特曼表示，“有可能”有10名共和党人投票支持该法案，尽管目前尚不清楚参议院共和党的支持程度。在众议院，77%的共和党人反对这项措施，包括领导层。
“我认为这是显而易见的，”波特曼周三被问及共和党对同性婚姻的观点是否正在转变时说道。2013年，当他透露他的儿子是同性恋时，他自己的立场发生了变化。
虽然一些国会共和党人认为该法案夸大了国家婚姻权利的危险，并被用作政治工具，但波特曼表示，即使该法案未能获得必要的支持，也传达了一个重要的信息。
参议院共和党党鞭约翰·图恩(John Thune)告诉记者，如果他的会议有足够多的人支持该提案，他“不会感到惊讶”，并补充说，他可能不会推动他的成员反对该提案。但是这位来自南达科他州的保守派人士表示，这件事只不过是一种政治干扰。
“我不认为这是现在任何人都在谈论的问题，”图恩说。“我认为这是民主党人编造的一个问题，因为他们喜欢把话题从通货膨胀、汽油价格和(南部)边境以及其他问题上转移开。”
在周二向ABC新闻表达了对该法案的保留意见后，共和党参议员Thom Tillis周三告诉记者，他“正在研究该法案，可能会”支持它。
爱荷华州的共和党参议员查克·格拉斯利和得克萨斯州的特德·克鲁兹无视记者关于他们可能如何投票的问题。
称为《尊重婚姻法案》同性和跨种族婚姻立法出台之际，众议院正在审议一系列法案，试图将最高法院延伸的未被列举的宪法权利编纂成法律，包括同性婚姻的权利和已婚夫妇获得避孕的权利。
堕胎权是另一项此类权利直到高等法院推翻了Roe案上个月。
保守派大法官克拉伦斯·托马斯在他的同意书中写道在这种情况下，法院接下来应该推翻其关于同性婚姻和避孕的裁决。
本周，众议院还将对一项法案进行投票，该法案将在上周批准立法，将妇女堕胎的权利编入法律后，保护避孕的权利。这些法案在参议院的命运尚不明朗。
'Possibility' that 10 Senate Republicans will back same-sex marriage bill; Schumer wants a vote
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday he would like to see the upper chamber now vote on legislation to codify the right to same-sex and interracial marriage after 47 Republicans joined Democrats in the Housein approving the measureon Tuesday night.
Schumer said during a floor speech that he was "really impressed by how much bipartisan support it got in the House." He added: "I want to bring this bill to the floor. And we're working to get the necessary Senate Republican support to ensure it would pass."
President Joe Biden also wants the Senate to take up the measure quickly, with his aides saying senators should "act swiftly" in sending the bill to him for his signature. Essentially, the proposal would require all states and the federal government to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages that were lawfully granted in a particular state.
"We need this legislation, and we urge Congress to move as quickly as possible," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said aboard Air Force One on Wednesday. "It's something the vast majority of the country support, just like they support restoring Roe [v. Wade], stopping a national abortion ban and protecting the right to use contraception."
Calls for swiftly bringing the legislation to the floor come amid some concern that the Senate's legislative calendar is too full to take up the bill before a month-long recess that begins on Aug. 5.
"We have more priorities than we have time," Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic whip, said on Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Church Schumer speaks at a Senate Democratic caucus leadership press conference on July 19, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Michael Brochstein/ZUMA Press
Schumer needs at least 10 Republicans to join the 50 members of the Democratic caucus and avoid a filibuster of a vote. Conservative Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia told reporters on Wednesday that he did not have a problem with the measure but needed to see the fine print in the bill, according to a spokeswoman.
The majority leader tasked Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., with rallying the GOP. She told ABC News she has been gauging both support and potential co-sponsors to join herself, Sens. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Rob Portman, R-Ohio.
"Every day we make progress," Baldwin said. "I want to do everything yesterday when you're talking about equal rights and equality and protecting civil rights," she added.
But Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, disagreed.
"There's obviously no urgency because there's no prospect of the law changing anytime soon," he told ABC News. "I'll evaluate the bill if it gets here."
Portman said there was "a possibility" that 10 Republicans would vote for it, though the extent of Senate GOP support is currently unclear. In the House, 77% of Republicans rejected the measure, including leadership.
"I think that's obvious," Portman said Wednesday when asked if Republican views on same-sex marriage were shifting. His own position changed in 2013 when he revealed that his son is gay.
While some congressional Republicans have argued the bill over-states the danger to national marriage rights and is being used as a political tool, Portman said the bill sends an important message even if it fails to gain the necessary support.
Senate Republican whip John Thune told reporters that he "would not be surprised" if enough of his conference supported the proposal, adding that he likely would not push his members to oppose it. But the conservative from South Dakota said the matter was nothing more than a political distraction.
"I don't think it's an issue right now that anybody's talking about," Thune said. "I think this is an issue that Democrats have concocted because they like to shift the subject from inflation and gas prices and the [southern] border and other issues."
After expressing reservations about the bill to ABC News on Tuesday, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, told reporters on Wednesday he was "looking at the bill and probably will" support it.
GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ted Cruz of Texas ignored reporter questions about how they may vote.
Known asthe Respect for Marriage Act, the same-sex and interracial marriage legislation comes as the House takes up a series of bills that seek to codify unenumerated constitutional rights extended by the Supreme Court, including the right to same-sex marriage and access to contraception for married couples.
Abortion access was another such rightuntil the high court reversed Roelast month.
Conservative Justice Clarence Thomaswrote in his concurrencein that case that the court should next reverse its ruling on same-sex marriage and contraception access.
This week, the House is also set to vote on a bill that would protect access to contraception after it approved legislation last week to codify a women's right to an abortion. The fate of those bills in the Senate is not clear.
