Mike Levin: “the Senate is once again debating an amendment which proposes to establish a Federal definition of marriage in the U.S.…”

“the Senate is once again debating an amendment which proposes to establish a Federal definition of marriage in the U.S. Constitution. Only 2 years ago, the Senate rejected a similar effort. One stated reason for considering this amendment is to protect States from having to honor the decisions of other States regarding marriage laws. This is unnecessary because 10 years ago this body overwhelmingly passed, and President Clinton signed into law, the Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, which I supported, which states that ``No State . . . shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State . . . respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State . . . or a right or claim arising from such relationship.'' The Defense of Marriage Act has clearly already defined ``marriage'' as ``only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.'' Proponents of this amendment argue that it is only a matter of time before the Federal courts become involved with marriage law, and they raise the fear that the Defense of Marriage Act could be struck down by so-called ``activist'' judges and courts. However, this simply has not been the case. This same argument was made in the Senate in 2004, but the Defense of Marriage Act still stands and remains law. Since 2004, DOMA has been upheld three times in Federal courts.…”