The West Wing
Object

Bill 973 (House Resolution 973 — Cameron's anti‑gay bill)

Bill/House Resolution 973 — a stapled, multi‑page legislative packet (Bill 973) introduced/owned by Cameron and cited in dialogue as an anti‑gay measure banning homosexual service members. Appears in The West Wing S01E16 where Ted Marcus invokes the resolution as a political weapon; staffers treat it as an actionable legislative proposal used to force public repudiation and political leverage.
4 appearances

Purpose

To serve as a formal legislative proposal (a bill) — a written vehicle for policy that can be publicly adopted, opposed, or denounced in order to shape votes and political positioning.

Significance

Functions as the immediate leverage point in Marcus's ultimatum: the demand that the President denounce Bill 973 compresses fundraising, principle, and political theater into a tactical crossroads. The bill catalyzes bargaining over moral posture versus electoral necessity and exposes the personal and institutional costs of political compromise.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

4 moments
S1E16 · 20 Hours in L.A.
Marcus's Ultimatum: The Fundraiser That Isn't

House Resolution 973 is named aloud by Marcus and used as the rhetorical and moral cudgel to justify canceling the fundraiser and demanding the President's repudiation; it functions less as a text than as a public lever in Marcus's ultimatum.

Before: A newly introduced House resolution referenced as being on the floor that morning; abstract political document rather than physical prop.
After: Transformed in this moment into a public justification and bargaining chip; its invocation has immediate political consequences for the fundraiser.
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S1E16 · 20 Hours in L.A.
Marcus Cancels the Fundraiser — The Ultimatum

House Resolution 973 is invoked verbally as the flashpoint: Marcus cites its introduction as justification for his cancellation and as the moral/political lever he expects the President to publicly repudiate.

Before: Recently introduced on the House floor earlier that morning and circulating as a live political issue.
After: Remains on the legislative docket but has become the immediate bargaining chip Marcus uses to extract a public statement from the White House.
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S1E16 · 20 Hours in L.A.
Marcus's Ultimatum — Ten Minutes for Silence

House Resolution 973 is referred to as the substantive legislative instrument behind the donor's anger; it exists in staff conversation as incontrovertible text that threatens political fallout should it be publicly tied to the President's name.

Before: Codified proposal bearing the House heading; a point of controversy generating donor pressure.
After: Still in circulation; its potential for publicity is intentionally constrained by the staff's tactical choice to deny it public oxygen.
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S1E16 · 20 Hours in L.A.
Trading Access for Optics

Bill 973 functions as the central provocation and bargaining chip: Ted Marcus demands a public denunciation of the bill, and the staff treat it as the issue that must be neutralized. The bill's presence turns abstract policy into immediate political leverage for the donor.

Before: Existing piece of proposed legislation circulating as a public controversy and topic of donor concern.
After: Remains politically salient but is temporarily converted into leverage used in the fundraiser negotiation rather than producing an immediate presidential statement.
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