Marriage amendment nears vote in House
- Aug 31, 2004 - comment
A vote on a constitutional amendment to protect marriage is nearer in the House of Representatives.
The House is expected to vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment, H.J. Res. 56, as early as the week of Sept. 20. The amendment would define marriage as only between a man and a woman. It also is designed to block courts from legalizing homosexual “marriage.”
The Senate already has turned back an attempt to pass such an amendment. In July, senators voted 50-48 against invoking cloture, thereby preventing a direct vote on the amendment. A cloture vote requires 60 senators to end filibuster.
The third “Battle for Marriage” rally and simulcast will be held shortly before the House vote. The ERLC is one of the sponsors of the Sept. 19 event, which follows similar programs in May and July.
Speakers scheduled for the rally include Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Richard Land, Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, National Association of Evangelicals President Ted Haggard, radio talk show host Janet Parshall and author/speaker David Barton.
Churches may find out how to participate in the simulcast by accessing www.wevotevalues.com .
You may inform your representative of your position on H.J. Res. 56 by calling the Capitol switchboard, (202) 225-3121, and asking for your representative.
In other developments:
- A federal bankruptcy judge in Washington state has upheld the Defense of Marriage Act in the first ruling by a federal court on the 1996 law. The DOMA bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex “marriage” and protects each state’s right to not accept a homosexual “marriage” recognized in a different state. In an Aug. 17 opinion, Paul Snyder said homosexual “marriage is not a fundamental right.” The case involved a lesbian who had filed for bankruptcy after receiving a marriage license in British Columbia.
- Vice President Dick Cheney reaffirmed Aug. 24 he believes the issue of same-sex “marriage” should be determined by the states, thereby distancing himself from President Bush’s support for a constitutional amendment protecting marriage as only between a man and a woman. Cheney’s stance represents a “flawed strategy,” Land said. “[M]y prediction is that unless there is a federal marriage amendment [passed] within the next 18 months, a federal district court will begin the process of striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act,” Land told Baptist Press. “The president’s position is strongly supportive of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which is the only position that counts.”
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