AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Three of Maine’s four congressional delegation members are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the federal law that law that denies federal benefits to same-sex couples.

Democratic U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud and independent Sen. Angus King are among 212 Democratic and independent members of Congress who joined a ‘‘friend of the court’’ brief asking the court to reject the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins has not signed on. Her spokesman, Kevin Kelley, tells the Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/YFXY3L ) that Collins will carefully follow the Supreme Court’s consideration of the case.

The 1996 law defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. Also before the Supreme Court is a case challenging California’s ban on gay marriage.

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