David Skaggs: “Mr. Speaker, we are here this evening engaged in a great rite of spring political theater. I am impressed with the…”

“Mr. Speaker, we are here this evening engaged in a great rite of spring political theater. I am impressed with the acting ability of many on the other side and those in support of this because they are pretending to be engaged in serious constitutional lawmaking. This is constitutional gibberish. It is constitutional mush. It is an insult to the Constitution to be considering this proposal. It is bad policy. It is bad law. Second only perhaps to a declaration of war, an amendment to the Constitution ought to be the occasion for the most serious and deliberate application of the talents of this body to the important responsibilities we bear to the Nation. And anyone who attempts to suggest that the language in this amendment could be implemented logically, coherently, without the regular interference of the courts is simply kidding themselves. This amendment, among many of its failings, violates the fundamental principle of this representative democracy, the fundamental principle of free government; as Madison put it, the principle of majority rule.”