Jane Harman: “in July of 1996, I stood on the House Floor and spoke in opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act. Eight years later…”

“in July of 1996, I stood on the House Floor and spoke in opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act. Eight years later, here I am again, standing in opposition to another attempt to divide this nation in an election year and ostracize some of our citizens. Only this time, we're going even further. This time, we are considering legislation that would, for the first time in our Nation's history, seek to exclude a specific group of people from access to the federal court system. The fact that we are having this debate at this time is as shameful as the debate itself. Our Nation faces many pressing and critical problems: the size of the Federal deficit and its effect on our international competitiveness; threats from rogue nations and terrorists; and an intelligence system that is in desperate need of repair, to name a few. Yet, rather than focusing our energy on protecting our citizens, Congress is debating of a resolution that would take away the rights of some Americans. There are three really good reasons to vote against H.R. 3313. It's unconstitutional, it discriminates against some Americans, and, for those of you who supported DOMA, it will muddle the definition of marriage and undermine the stated intent of DOMA. Eight years ago, I warned that the Defense of Marriage Act was an unconstitutional solution in search of a problem. With the measure we are considering today, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have out-done themselves.”