Susan Collins: “I rise to speak on S.J. Res. 1, the Marriage Protection Amendment to the Constitution. Let me begin my remarks by…”

“I rise to speak on S.J. Res. 1, the Marriage Protection Amendment to the Constitution. Let me begin my remarks by stating my position on the issues raised by this amendment. First, it is my strong personal belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. Second, principles of federalism dictate that the responsibility to define marriage belongs to the States. Third, the proper role of the Federal Government is to ensure that each State can exercise that right and responsibility by preventing, as the Defense of Marriage Act does, one State from imposing its view on others. The constitutional amendment under consideration would potentially affect two types of relationships that are fundamental to our society. The first is the union between a man and a woman. The second is the compact between the States and the Federal Government. In our zeal to protect the former, we must not do unnecessary harm to the latter, as it is the bedrock principle of our country's highly successful Federal system. When the Senate considered this amendment in July 2004, the Massachusetts Supreme Court had only recently issued its 4-to-3 decision in the Goodridge case. I urged that we should not overreact to the single decision of a State court and rush to amend the Constitution in such a way as to strip away from our States a power they have exercised, wisely for the most part, for more than 200 years.…”