Edward Epstein of CQ (Congressional Quarterly) reported today that, according to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congress will not block DC's decision to recognize same-sex marriages legally entered into in other states and countries:
Under the District of Columbia charter, Congress can block any action of the City Council and mayor within 30 days. Some conservative House Republicans said they want the House to take such a step in the case of the same-sex marriage measure. But at a press conference, Pelosi, a Californian whose state Supreme Court is considering a case aimed at overturning a voter-passed initiative banning same-sex marriage, said the House won’t hold such a vote. “I don’t think the Congress should intervene there in terms of their recognition of marriages in the states that allow them,” she said. But Pelosi also said she won’t press Congress to repeal the section of the 1996 federal law (PL 104-199) known as the Defense of Marriage Act that bans gay marriage. She said the House is moving on issues involving the rights of gays and lesbians, pointing to last week’s passage of a bill (HR 1913) that would expand hate crimes law to include sexual orientation. And she said Congress may eventually look at the Defense Department’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that bans homosexuals from openly serving in the military. But she said same-sex marriage isn’t on the agenda, because she doesn’t think Congress would approve legislation legalizing it. “Members will make a priority of issues like gays in the military. And where we have prospects of success, we always want to expand to a place of more opportunity and more freedom for all — for all Americans,” she said. “But right now, our agenda is jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. And as we move on that front, concurrently, we have to make some decisions about what is possible and our values-based initiatives as well.”
