Sen. Amy Klobuchar will support a bill that would repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) when it comes up for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on which Klobuchar serves, state Sen. Scott Dibble has indicated. DOMA currently prevents same-sex couples legally married in five states, Washington, D.C., and one tribal nation from receiving the federal benefits of marriage. President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder decided in February to halt defense of DOMA citing its probable unconstitutionality.

Last week, the Courage Campaign noted that Klobuchar was one of two Democratic senators who hadn’t signed on to the DOMA repeal bill (the other is Wisconsin’s Herb Kohl) and that her office stated that she had not taken a position on the bill. That prompted OutFront Minnesota, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy group, to initiate a campaign urging constituents to call on her to support the repeal.

On Tuesday, state Sen. Dibble of Minneapolis noted that he spoke with Klobuchar’s staff, who indicated she would vote for the measure.

“I have spoken directly with Amy Klobuchar’s State Director,” Dibble wrote on Facebook. “Senator Klobuchar will be voting for the repeal of DOMA in the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

Klobuchar’s press office has not responded to the Minnesota Independent’s request for confirmation.

DOMA was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. It bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage which, at the time, no states had legalized. Today, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, the District of Columbia and the Coquille Tribal Council in Oregon perform same-sex marriages, and thousands of Californians are also legally married following several months in 2008 prior to the passage of Prop 8 when same-sex marriage was legal.

Rep. Michele Bachmann is one of 81 cosponsors of a House resolution that would condemn President Obama for his decision to discontinue the federal government’s defense of the Defense of Marriage Act. Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder reached a conclusion that parts of DOMA were unconstitutional and therefore the federal government could no longer defend the act.

The resolution “condemns the Obama administration’s direction that the Department of Justice should discontinue defending the Defense of Marriage Act; and demands that the Department of Justice continue to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in all instances.”

House Speaker John Boehner has directed the House’s legal counsel to resume defense of DOMA.

The resolution writers also took a dig at Obama by asserting that he was defending the Affordable Car Act that conservatives view as unconstitutional while denouncing the unconstitutionality of DOMA.

Bachmann is the only member of Congress from Minnesota who has signed on to the resolution.

Here’s the full text:

Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to the Obama administration’s discontinuing to defend the Defense of Marriage Act.

Whereas on February 23, 2011, President Barack Obama ordered the Justice Department to drop its defense of a central part of the 1996 law that bars the Federal Government from recognizing same-sex unions, the Defense of Marriage Act, and both President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder concluded the law is unconstitutional;

Whereas President Obama himself has said that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman;

Whereas passed by significant majorities in both chambers of Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton, the Defense of Marriage Act has never been overturned in any Federal lawsuit challenging its constitutionality by a Federal Court, yet the Department of Justice has decided not to defend this act in Federal court;

Whereas on the contrary, the Department of Justice is vigorously defending in numerous Federal courts across the country President Obama’s signature health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148), and the related Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-152), after these bills barely passed both chambers of Congress on party line votes, and whose critical Individual Mandate provision has been declared unconstitutional by, separate Federal district courts in the cases of Florida v. Department of Health and Human Services, Case No.: 3:10-cv-91-RV/EMT (N.D. Fla., Jan. 31, 2011), and Virginia ex rel. Cuccinelli v. Sebelius, No. 3:10cv188-HEH (E.D. Va., filed Dec. 13, 2010); and

Whereas the vast majority of Americans believe that marriage should continue to be what it always has been–the legal and spiritual union between one man and one woman: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress–

(1) condemns the Obama administration’s direction that the Department of Justice should discontinue defending the Defense of Marriage Act; and

(2) demands that the Department of Justice continue to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in all instances.

“The time has come for Eric Holder to step down as Attorney General of the United States,” Rep. Michele Bachmann wrote Thursday, expressing concern over the release of thousands of American diplomatic cables by Wikileaks earlier this week. “As a member of Congress and a mother of five children, I am concerned about the very real threats facing our country.”

Bachmann wrote in a post at RedState that in addition to what she sees as inaction by Holder over the Wikileaks disclosures, she also disagrees with Holder’s policies on granting suspected terrorists Miranda rights and trying them on American soil. “Holder’s use of civilian trials for terror suspects proved to be a failure last month when a civilian jury acquitted a man on 284 of 285 counts,” she wrote.

That man’s conviction on one count of conspiracy could get him a prison sentence of 20 years to life.

Two weeks ago, Gov. Tim Pawlenty suggested that Holder should resign based on similar reasoning.

Bachmann also listed other problems she has with Holder “like his outspoken criticism of Arizona’s immigration law.”

Sen. Al Franken is urging Attorney General Eric Holder not to appeal a United States District Court decision on Tuesday that ruled the military’s ban on openly serving gay and lesbian servicemembers unconsitutional. In a letter, signed with 18 other senators, Franken wrote that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) “not only weakens our military, but neither is it an effective use of our government resources or taxpayer monies.”

The suit against DADT was brought by the Log Cabin Republicans in California District Court. Judge Virginia A. Phillips issued a worldwide permanent injunction against the law when she declared it unconstitutional. The Obama administration has 60 days to appeal the ruling.

“These soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen sacrifice so much in defense of our nation and our Constitution. It is imperative that their constitutional freedoms be protected as well,” Christian Berle, Deputy Executive Director of Log Cabin Republicans, said in a statement. “This decision is also a victory for all who support a strong national defense. No longer will our military be compelled to discharge servicemembers with valuable skills and experience because of an archaic policy mandating irrational discrimination.”

Here’s the full letter to Attorney General Holder:

Dear Mr. Attorney General,

We are writing to bring to your attention the recently issued decision of Judge Virginia A. Phillips of the United States District Court of the Central District of California in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States, which declared that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) underlying law violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of due process and free speech, thereby rendering DADT unconstitutional. In light of important national security concerns, we respectfully request that you, in your capacity at the Department of Justice, refrain from appealing this decision or the permanent injunction granted against this law.

The following quote from the judge’s decision captures the overwhelming reason why the decision should stand: “Among those discharged were many with critically needed skills … Far from furthering the military’s readiness, the discharge of these service men and women had a direct and deleterious effect on this governmental interest.” As one of many criteria that the Justice Department will examine in deciding whether to appeal the permanent injunction to this policy, we ask that you examine whether or not an appeal furthers a legitimate governmental interest. We would say any appeal does not.

Additionally, DADT harms military readiness, as well as the morale and the cohesiveness of our armed forces, at a time when our military’s resources are strained and unity is critically important. For every person discharged after ten years of service, six new servicemembers would need to be recruited to recover the level of experience lost by that discharge. This not only weakens our military, but neither is it an effective use of our government resources or taxpayer monies.

President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, have all publicly advocated for the repeal of this harmful law. There is no legal or military justification and not one shred of credible evidence that supports continuing the discriminatory DADT law, and considering the guidance of the commander-in-chief and the nation’s top two defense officials, we urge you to refrain from seeking an appeal. The federal court decision was a step in the right direction, and we are confident that the Senate will take the ultimate step by voting this fall on the fiscal year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act to permanently lift the ban on gays in the military. Although we understand that only action by Congress can bring real finality to this issue, we believe an appeal of the recent federal court decision could set back those congressional efforts. Therefore, we request your assistance in ensuring that we can eradicate this discriminatory law permanently and urge the Justice Department to choose not to appeal any court decision that would keep this law in place.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We look forward to hearing from you.

SIXTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Clark letter rips Bachmann. State Sen. Tarryl Clark’s fundraising letter says U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann only shows up at ribbon-cuttings. [DumpBachmann]

STATEWIDE: Pawlenty remembers. The governor opens an interview with “In a nutshell, I’m still the governor of Minnesota” and calls himself Minnesota’s most conservative guv since Ted “Tightwad” Christianson. [Human Events]

STATEWIDE: Not this Tim either. Proving he is no colloquial bad penny, former Congressman Tim Penny says he won’t be back in the running for governor — or anything else. [ECM Publishers]

ST. PETER: And then there were 25. With recent drop-outs and no-gos, that’s the number of gubernatorial aspirants, all of whom are invited to a candidate forum next month. [Star Tribune]

TWIN CITIES: Justice head here to talk crime on reservations. Attorney General Eric Holder will be in the Twin Cities for meetings with tribal officials.  [Associated Press]

MINNEAPOLIS: Local duo wants a piece of Strib. Along with minority shares, Vance Opperman and Glen Taylor would get naming rights to the business and sports sections, respectively. [Braublog]

Photo: Wikipedia

Although medical marijuana use is still illegal on the federal level, the Obama administration said today that it won’t go after patients or their providers in states where it is legal.

“It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement to federal prosecutors this morning. “This balanced policy formalizes a sensible approach that the Department has been following since January: effectively focus our resources on serious drug traffickers while taking into account state and local laws.”

The memo, penned by David W. Ogden, Deputy Attorney General, says:

As a general matter, pursuit of these priorities should not focus federal resources in your States on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana. For example, prosecution of individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen consistent with applicable state law, or those caregivers in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state law who provide such individuals with marijuana, is unlikely to be an efficient use of limited federal resources.

In Minnesota, medical marijuana remains illegal. In 2009, the Minnesota Legislature passed a tightly-worded bill that would allow some medical marijuana in the state, but that measure was vetoed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Advocates say they will take their battle to the people, and and constitutional amendment legislation is planned for the 2010 legislative session.

“[T]his nation has still not come to grips with its racial past nor has it been willing to contemplate, in a truly meaningful way, the diverse future it is fated to have,” Holder said.  ”To our detriment, this is typical …”

Holder acknowledged some interaction between people of different races in the workplace, but said that vanishes on weekends: “On Saturdays and Sundays, America in the year 2009 does not, in some ways, differ significantly from the country that existed some fifty years ago. This is truly sad.”

Read the full address here.

President Hamid Karzai and Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Photo: Sebastien Zwez

No, it wasn’t the Grammys, but for public figures like Gov. Tim Pawlenty hard at work building up political prestige, going to Munich for a big international security conference beat partying in Los Angeles with Coldplay and Li’l Wayne.

Still, from afar it could seem the same-old, same-old: another year, another Minnesota budget crisis, another road trip for Pawlenty. At least he made the most of it, scoring a second-row seat for the address by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Were thoughts of home running through Pawlenty’s mind as he heard Karzai talk about Afghanistan’s “potential for economic growth” and how his country is now able “to deliver essential services, such as health and education, on a scale that we never could in the past”?

From the looks of it, there were a few front row seats available, but Pawlenty didn’t need to push it, since he’d met Karzai before on a trip to Afghanistan. It was Pawlenty’s second year at the international security conference in Munich. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar was also invited this year, but she stayed in Washington, D.C., instead for the Senate’s weekend session on the economic stimulus bill, which she supports. A vote is expected today.

Canceling her trip may have spared the Munich conference an international incident: German Chancellor Angela Merkel wore a red blazer bearing a striking similarity to the trademark attire Klobuchar likes to don for high-visibility events (last seen at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Atty. Gen. Eric Holder’s appointment).

Merkel at Munich (Photo: Sebastian Zwez), Klobuchar in Senate (Photo: U.S. Senate)

Meanwhile, back in Minnesota, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak wouldn’t deny he has his sights set on Pawlenty’s office in 2010, even as he launched his effort to get re-elected to his current post this year. Rybak kicked off his campaign at an event that featured a man whose current political status is even more muddled: Al Franken, who almost 100 days after the Nov. 4 election has taken to calling himself “Senator-Elect” but remains months away from actually attaining that office.

“I am the senator-elect,” Franken told the cheering crowd at Riverview Theater, “and hope to be seated during R.T.’s current term.”

An irony: Franken might be a seated U.S. senator today had a man whom Rybak helped attain high office — President Barack Obama — done for Franken’s campaign what Franken did for Rybak’s on Saturday.

Here is a video of Franken’s appearance, via MNStories contibutor wr3n:

Meanwhile, Minnesota peace activists are trying to nail down Klobuchar’s position on a bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would strictly define interrogation techniques. A noncommittal e-mail from Klobuchar on Monday didn’t satisfy them, but Feinstein’s office tells MnIndy that the bill’s in flux anyway after Obama’s executive orders to close the Guantanamo prison camp and end interrogations outside the bounds of the U.S. Army’s Field Manual.

In other news concerning Minnesota’s lone senator, Klobuchar’s bill to delay the nation’s conversion to HDTV from Feb. 17 to June 12 passed on Monday. The House version is expected to come to a vote today, according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office, with only slight changes needed from the Senate to make the two bills agree.

Klobuchar and Holder decided to hold off on discussing names of people she might recommend for the post until after the U.S. Senate confirms Holder as attorney general. But she already knows the kind of person she wants: “seasoned,” ”respected,” “fair-minded” and so on. See if you know anyone who matches the rest of Klobuchar’s requirements, which are listed after the jump.

Here’s a statement from Klobuchar’s office:

Senator Klobuchar has said that regardless of party, any U.S. Attorney for Minnesota should be a seasoned, respected attorney who is fair-minded; who has impeccable integrity; who is able to work productively with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies; and who is, above all, committed to seeing that justice is done under the law and for the people of Minnesota.

Senator Klobuchar has already had an initial discussion with Attorney General-designate Eric Holder about the U.S. Attorney process. She plans to discuss the Minnesota process further after he is confirmed.