Darin LaHood, Cheri Bustos explain their votes on the Respect for Marriage Act

PEORIA — Two of the three Congress members who represent the Peoria area voted in favor of a bill that would protect same-sex marriage.

Both U.S. Reps. Cheri Bustos of Moline and Adam Kinzinger of Channahon voted in favor of the bill that now heads to the U.S. Senate, where it faces a more uncertain future. U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, voted against the measure.

The bill — called the Respect for Marriage Act — passed the House on Tuesday on a 267-157 vote with seven not voting. It was mostly along party lines, though 47 Republicans voted in favor of the measure. It now moves onto the U.S. Senate, where it could die due to a filibuster. Conservatives, including House GOP leaders, largely opposed the bill, and the vast majority of Republicans voted against it, The Associated Press reported.

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In a statement, Bustos, a Democrat who isn't running for reelection this fall, said freedom is sacred, and that includes the freedom to choose whom you want to marry.

"While the vast majority of Americans believe that a person’s race or sex should never determine which rights they are afforded in this country, we’re in a position in which fundamental freedoms are at risk at the hands of the Supreme Court," she said. "Today, I voted to take action enshrining marriage equality for same-sex and interracial couples into federal law to protect folks no matter how the court moves forward.”

LaHood voted no, saying the bill was unnecessary.

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"As outlined in the Supreme Court’s Obergerfell decision, same-sex marriages are and remain legal. Democrats are only trying to mislead and distract the American people from the Biden Administration’s failed agenda, which has pushed inflation to record highs, created an energy crisis, and elevated violent crime to record highs," he said in a statement.

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