HOWARD CENTER -- DEFEAT OF FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT Allan Carlson, president of the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society, said the Senate’s failure to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment showed “a clear lack of leadership.” An effort to end the Democrats’ filibuster of the amendment failed by a vote of 48-to-50. (Sixty votes are needed for cloture. Passage of a constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress) The House of Representatives is scheduled to consider the measure this fall. “Our national house is on fire,” Carlson proclaimed, “and all Senate opponents could do is to create smokescreens about leaving the definition of marriage to the states.” “Leave it to the states are code words for leave it to the courts,” Carlson observed. “Thirty-nine states have embraced the traditional definition of marriage – one man and one woman -- contained in the amendment. They’ve written this language into their own constitutions or statutory law. Six more states could have defense of marriage measures on the November ballot.” But all of that could be undone by a handful of judges, Carlson explained. “In May, 5 judges of the state’s highest court forced gay marriage on Massachusetts. If the federal courts overturn the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (providing that states don’t have to recognize same-sex unions contracted in other states), those same five judges could end up forcing homosexual marriage on the entire nation.” The Howard Center thanked President Bush and the Senate Republican leadership for working to enact the Federal Marriage Amendment. It pledged to continue to educate Americans on the need to stand up for traditional marriage and the family, and reject gay marriage as a danger to both. For more information on The World Congress of Families and its parent group, the Howard Center For Family, Religion and Society, visit www.worldcongress.org and www.profam.org. Click here to find out how your senators voted: |
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