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July 14, 2004

PROTECT MARRIAGE NOW!  Both Senate and House to vote on protecting marriage this week!   Printer Friendly version   E-mail to a Friend Update: House Committee Votes to Protect Marriage from Activist Judges!  The House Judiciary Committee voted 21-13 to send the Marriage Protection Act (H.R. 3313) to the House floor next week. A vote on this legislation to protect DOMA will occur the week of July 19. Please continue to contact your representative urging a YES vote on the Marriage Protection Act. View Webcast Update: The U.S. Senate failed to invoke cloture on the Federal Marriage Amendment (S.J. Res. 40) by a vote of 48-50.  This procedural vote would have ended debate and allowed the Senate to proceed to an immediate vote on the constitutional amendment. This week both houses of Congress will be taking important votes on protecting marriage. Due to activist judges, laws defining marriage as one man and one woman, such as the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) will likely be struck down. The Defense of Marriage Act was adopted eight years ago by an overwhelming majority of both Houses of Congress and signed by President Clinton. According to DOMA, whenever the word "marriage" or "spouse" is used in federal law, "marriage means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife," and "spouse refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." We must take all precautions possible to protect marriage from out of control courts. The U.S. Constitution provides for two clear ways to solve the problem of activist courts: amending the Constitution as provided in Article V, and restricting the jurisdiction of the courts as provided in Article III. Both avenues to protect marriage are before our elected officials this week and Congress must act. Take Action in the Senate Currently, the U.S. Senate is debating a constitutional amendment to protect marriage. A vote on the amendment will likely occur Wednesday, July 14 or Thursday, July 15. Urge your Senator to vote for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman. (An amendment takes 67 votes to pass the Senate) Call your U.S. Senators Target List: Sens. Akaka, Alexander, Allen, Baucus, Byah, Bennett, Biden, Bingaman, Bond, Boxer, Breaux, Bunning, Burns, Byrd, Campbell, Cantwell, Carper, Chafee, Chambliss, Clinton, Collins, Conrad, Cornyn, Corzine, Craig, Crapo, Daschle, Dayton, DeWine, Dodd, Dole, Domenici, Dorgan, Durbin, Edwards, Ensign, Feingold, Feinstein, Bob Graham, Lindsey Graham, Grassley, Gregg, Hagel, Harkin, Hollings, Inouye, Jeffords, Johnson, Kennedy, Kerry, Kohl, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Lincoln, Lugar, McCain, Mikulski, Murkowski, Murray, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Nickles, Pryor, Reed, Reid, Roberts, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Schumer, Smith, Snowe, Specter, Stabenow, Stevens, Stununu, Thomas, Voinovich, Warner, Wyden Take Action in the House On Wednesday, July 14, the House Judiciary Committee will be voting on the Marriage Protection Act (H.R. 3313), sponsored by Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN). This bill would prevent the federal courts from hearing any challenge to DOMA. Urge members of the House Judiciary Committee to attend the markup session and vote for the Marriage Protection Act (H.R. 3313), bringing it to the House floor. Call Members of the House Judiciary Committee     Information on House Committee on the Judiciary   (e-mail addresses, phone numbers.) Members: Baldwin, Bachus, Berman, Blackburn, Boucher, Cannon, Carter, Chabot, Coble, Conyers, Delahunt, Feeney, Flake, Forbes, Gallegly, Goodlatte, Green, Hart, Hyde, Jenkins, Jackson Lee, Keller, King, Lofgren, Meehan, Nadler, Pence, Sanchez, Schiff, Scott, Sensenbrenner, L. Smith, Watt, Waters, Wexler, Weiner Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121 Further Reading about Marriage