Political Quotes

“I had anticipated and we had been told that the gentleman was going to offer an amendment that said none of the funds in this Act may be used by the Justice Department to argue for the Defense of Marriage Act in court. And I was going to object on the same grounds that I have in some other such amendments earlier day-- that we should not be politicizing the Justice Department. We should not be telling them: Do defend this in court; don't defend that in court. {time} 2240 But as the gentleman from Massachusetts says, this amendment seems to do nothing at all. None of the funds made available under this act may be used in contravention of the Defense of Marriage Act. Well, none of the funds are being use in contravention of the Defense of Marriage Act. The only circumstance I can envision under which funds might be used in contravention of the Defense of Marriage Act would be after the Supreme Court declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. If the Court declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, then the Constitution frankly would demand under the equal protection clause that funds be spent against the will of what had been the Defense of Marriage Act. If the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, then someone who is married under the laws of some State that permits same-sex marriage will demand to have joint filing of income taxes or demand the tax benefits that a spouse gets, and it would be unconstitutional not to grant that.…”