House members of similar opinion can put forward any bill that they feel like, but that doesn't mean that it'll a) be called up for debate b) actually get to a vote in the house, c) have a similar process in the senate, d) get House and Senate differences resolved in committee, e) be signed by the President, f) pass the immediate and obvious challenges in the Supreme Court. The core of this bill is in direct conflict with strong legal precedents going all the way up to the Supreme Court. This is just posturing. There are many such go-nowhere bills put forward every year, so the sponsors can talk about it to like-minded consituents. If it were anything more, you'd hear about it on NPR. I would also note, by the way, that the bill has relatively few co-sponsors for a hot-button issue, probably because the other 400+ people in the House know that such an extreme position on the issue doesn't appeal to a large majority of the population. Of course, I could be wrong. If so, please let me know.
You can browse all of the bills put forward in any congressional session at Thomas (http://thomas.loc.gov/). You'd be surprised what unrelated nastiness gets attached to bills but is never reported by mainstream press.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-02-15 08:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-15 09:01 pm (UTC)I have no idea if you're wrong.
The explaination above would, however, certainly explain why it sometimes feels like there's a ridiclous number of stuff being attempted.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-15 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-15 09:10 pm (UTC)