Alliance Defense Fund attorneys say they are encouraged by the further efforts of the U.S. House of Representatives to defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act following the House’s announcement Monday of its official legal team. 

ADF pledged its support of the House’s efforts to defend the act, which defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, in two critical lawsuits in which ADF attorneys filed friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas). The decision by the Obama administration in February to abandon defense of the law in those lawsuits left the law without any legal defense.

The American people deserve to have their laws defended. The House is demonstrating that it will not let a law that it overwhelmingly passed, that President Clinton signed, and that the American people support go undefended,” said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Brian Raum. “ADF believes the House made an excellent decision by choosing former Solicitor General Paul Clement as lead counsel to defend DOMA, and we will support his efforts in whatever way we can.”