WASHINGTON (BP)–A Democrat from New York has rallied nearly a fourth of fellow members of the House of Representatives behind legislation for non-U.S. citizens in homosexual relationships with U.S. citizens to receive the same immigration privileges as marriages between U.S. citizens and aliens, CNSNews.com reported Sept. 23.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler introduced his “Permanent Partners Immigration Act,” H.R. 690, in February and issued a press release in mid-September noting that the bill had reached 100 cosponsors, CNSNews.com reported.
CNSNews.com reported that Nadler contends that the legislation only seeks equal treatment for what he views as equivalent relationships.
“My bill is simply a matter of common sense and fairness,” Nadler said. “Why do we allow the government to tear apart committed and loving couples just because of who they love?”
Nadler claimed the bill has “bipartisan co-sponsorship,” with CNSNews.com counting two Republicans, Constance Morella of Maryland and Jim Kolbe of Arizona, himself an active homosexual, and one independent, Bernard Sanders of Vermont, among the cosponsors.
Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute of Concerned Women for America, told CNSNews.com the 100-cosponsor mark carries little meaning.
“There are plenty of wacky bills out there with as many sponsors,” he said.
Knight described Nadler’s bill as “a direct attack on marriage.”
“This bill would make the United States a magnet for homosexuals to come to our shores,” he told CNSNews.com. “And given that homosexuality is looked down upon around the rest of the world, it would give the rest of the world one more reason to conclude that the United States has gone over the edge and is no longer the ‘shining city on the hill’ but is really a decadent society that everybody else had best avoid.”
The bill, as described by CNSNews.com, would stipulate that the Immigration and Naturalization Service guarantee the same privileges and benefits to non-citizen homosexual sex partners of U.S. citizens as those extended to legally married non-citizen spouses of U.S. citizens.
Under current immigration law, only non-citizen spouses and other immediate family members of U.S. citizens receive preference for admission to the country and for “permanent resident alien” status.
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Based on reporting by Jeff Johnson, congressional bureau chief with CNSNews, at www.cnsnews.com.
