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Marriage Protection Amendment

By: Ed Markey
By: Ed Markey
Date: July 19, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Conservative Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Marriage


MARRIAGE PROTECTION AMENDMENT -- (Extensions of Remarks - July 19, 2006)

SPEECH OF
HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY
OF MASSACHUSETTS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2006

* Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, the world around us is engulfed in a state of peril. Our soldiers in Iraq are facing increased violence, Israel is fighting a multi-state sponsored terrorist organization, India was ravaged by a series of rail bombings last week, development in Afghanistan is being stifled by warlords, North Korea is testing the limits of its neighbors with missile tests, Iran is testing the international community's patience and defying its commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Mexico is heavily divided over its ``Florida-like'' uncertain presidential election, the humanitarian crisis in Sudan rages on.

* Here in the homeland, we struggle to pick up the pieces after Katrina, millions of Americans are living in poverty, the minimum wage hasn't risen in nearly 10 years, we're shortchanging our veterans coming home from Iraq, families are struggling to send their kids to college, school districts face confusion over the implementation of No Child Left Behind, seniors face difficulties paying for their prescription drugs, major cities are receiving less homeland security funds, and consumers are paying over $3 a gallon at the pump.

* How do we respond to these challenges? The Republican leadership says we should spend our time making sure that two adults who love each other cannot form a marriage. Is this why our founding fathers created the greatest democracy in the world--to keep people apart? Our country and our world deserve better than this. To say that the threat of same sex marriage is so great that it requires the alteration of our Constitution to include discriminatory language is a slap in the face to those that have fought for equality and civil rights.

* We already debated gay marriage nearly two years ago with the Defense of Marriage Act. States that don't want to honor other states civil unions don't have to.

* I believe that states should have the right to grant same-sex marriages or offer couples the same legal rights as those of other couples. I share this position with Vice President DICK CHENEY. This flagrant attempt to include discrimination into our Constitution is nothing but

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