Marilyn Musgrave: “the best gauge of whether the American people want the definition of marriage to be a union of a man and a woman is to…”

“the best gauge of whether the American people want the definition of marriage to be a union of a man and a woman is to look at elections in recent activities in the States on this subject. Madam Speaker, voters in 7 States have gone to the ballot box to enact either a State Defense of Marriage Act, to pass State marriage amendments, or to permit the State legislature to define marriage, thus preventing a State court from doing so. Each time the initiative passed overwhelmingly. The people of Hawaii voted with 69 percent approval to pass a State marriage amendment. The people of Alaska voted with a 68 percent approval to pass a State marriage amendment. The people of California voted with 61 percent approval to pass a State defense of marriage statute. The people of Nebraska voted with 70 percent approval to pass a State marriage amendment. The people of Nevada voted with a 70 percent approval to pass a State marriage amendment. The people of Missouri voted with 71 percent approval to pass a State marriage amendment. The people of Louisiana voted with a 78 percent approval to pass a State marriage amendment. Madam Speaker, 44 States have recently enacted laws that provide that marriage shall consist only of a union of a man and a woman. These 44 States constitute 88 percent of the States, well more than the three-fourths required to approve a constitutional amendment, and they include 86 percent of the United States population.”