The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Marriage amendment fails again in Senate

By Tom Strode - Jun 22, 2006 - 3

A constitutional amendment to protect marriage again has failed in the United States Senate.

After two full days of debate, the Senate fell 11 votes short in a June 7 procedural move to bring the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) to the floor for an up-or-down vote. The vote was 49-48 for the maneuver, known as “invoking cloture,” but it required 60 votes to succeed. If the amendment had reached the floor, it would have needed 67 votes, a two-thirds majority, to pass.

The total marked only a one-vote gain from July 2004, when 48 senators supported ending debate and bringing the proposal to the floor. The addition of only one vote came in spite of the Republican Party’s gain of four Senate seats in the 2004 election.

Despite the Senate setback, the House of Representatives plans to vote on the proposal in July, Majority Leader John Boehner, R.-Ohio, said.

The MPA, S.J. Res. 1, would define marriage as the union of a man and a woman in an attempt to protect the institution against continuing legal efforts to legalize “gay marriage.”

Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said defenders of marriage should be encouraged by the one-vote gain but “disgusted by the pathetic failure of the Senate to do far better on this issue than it did.”

“If the senators voted the way their states have voted on this issue, we would have had 90 senators vote for the Marriage Protection Amendment, because 45 states have already either passed constitutional amendments or state laws banning same-sex marriage,” he said. “It is up to the citizens of the various states who have such recalcitrant senators to have a direct, purposeful and ongoing dialogue with their respective senators.

“Most amendments fail on their first or second introduction,” Land said. “And those who understand that this is the only way to safeguard marriage as between only a man and a woman must redouble their efforts and realize that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and then the next step and the next step and the next step. I want to thank all of the people who took the time to contact their senators over the past few weeks and ask them to support the amendment.”

Massachusetts is the only state so far to have legalized “same-sex marriage,” but amendment supporters predict courts will continue to expand marriage to include homosexual couples unless a federal amendment is ratified to address the problem. High courts in New Jersey, New York and Washington appear poised to legitimize same-sex unions before the end of the year.

Roll call on Marriage Protection Amendment
How U.S. senators voted June 7 on taking action on the Marriage Protection Amendment, S.J. Res. 1, is listed below, arranged in categories of “yes,” “no” and “not voting.” A “yes” vote means a senator was in favor of bringing the amendment to the floor for an up-or-down vote.

YES (49): DEMOCRATS (2) – Robert Byrd, W.Va.; Ben Nelson, Neb. REPUBLICANS (47) – Lamar Alexander, Tenn.; Wayne Allard, Colo.; George Allen, Va.; Robert Bennett, Utah; Christopher Bond, Mo.; Sam Brownback, Kan.; Jim Bunning, Ky.; Conrad Burns, Mont.; Richard Burr, N.C.; Saxby Chambliss, Ga.; Tom Coburn, Okla.; Thad Cochran, Miss.; Norm Coleman, Minn.; John Cornyn, Texas; Larry Craig, Idaho; Michael Crapo, Idaho; Jim DeMint, S.C.; Mike DeWine, Ohio; Elizabeth Dole, N.C.; Pete Domenici, N.M.; John Ensign, Nev.; Michael Enzi, Wyo.; Bill Frist, Tenn.; Lindsey Graham, S.C.; Charles Grassley, Iowa; Orrin Hatch, Utah; Kay Hutchison, Texas; James Inhofe, Okla.; Johnny Isakson, Ga.; Jon Kyl, Ariz.; Trent Lott, Miss.; Richard Lugar, Ind.; Mel Martinez, Fla.; Mitch McConnell, Ky.; Lisa Murkowski, Alaska; Pat Roberts, Kan.; Rick Santorum, Pa.; Jeff Sessions, Ala.; Richard Shelby, Ala.; Gordon Smith, Ore.; Ted Stevens, Alaska; Jim Talent, Mo.; Craig Thomas, Wyo.; John Thune, S.D.; David Vitter, La.; George Voinovich, Ohio; John Warner, Va.

NO (48): DEMOCRATS (40) – Daniel Akaka, Hawaii; Max Baucus, Mont.; Evan Bayh, Ind.; Joseph Biden, Del.; Jeff Bingaman, N.M.; Barbara Boxer, Calif.; Maria Cantwell, Wash.; Thomas Carper, Del.; Hillary Clinton, N.Y.; Kent Conrad, N.D.; Mark Dayton, Minn.; Byron Dorgan, N.D.; Richard Durbin, Ill.; Russ Feingold, Wis.; Dianne Feinstein, Calif.; Tom Harkin, Iowa; Daniel Inouye, Hawaii; Tim Johnson, S.D.; Edward Kennedy, Mass.; John Kerry, Mass.; Herbert Kohl, Wis.; Mary Landrieu, La.; Frank Lautenberg, N.J.; Patrick Leahy, Vt.; Carl Levin, Mich.; Joseph Lieberman, Conn.; Blanche Lincoln, Ark.; Robert Menendez, N.J.; Barbara Mikulski, Md.; Patty Murray, Wash.; Bill Nelson, Fla.; Barack Obama, Ill.; Mark Pryor, Ark.; Jack Reed, R.I.; Harry Reid, Nev.; Ken Salazar, Colo.; Paul Sarbanes, Md.; Charles Schumer, N.Y.; Debbie Stabenow, Mich.; Ron Wyden, Ore. REPUBLICANS (7) – Lincoln Chafee, R.I.; Susan Collins, Maine; Judd Gregg, N.H.; John McCain, Ariz.; Olympia Snowe, Maine; Arlen Specter, Pa.; John Sununu, N.H. INDEPENDENTS (1) – James Jeffords, Vt.

NOT VOTING (3): DEMOCRATS (2) — Christopher Dodd, Conn.; John Rockefeller, W.Va. REPUBLICANS (1) – Chuck Hagel, Neb.

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