Political Quotes

“as a cosponsor of the legislation now before us, H.R. 3396, the Defense of Marriage Act, I rise today to express my strong support of this bill. This straightforward legislation does just two things: First, provides that no State shall be required--I repeat, no State shall be required--to give effect to a law of any other State with respect to a same-sex marriage. Second, the Defense of Marriage Act defines the word ``marriage'' and ``spouse'' for purposes of Federal law. Though this bill is short in length--just 2 rac{1}{2} pages in fact--it is long in substance. As most of you are aware, the issue of same-sex marriages and consequently the introduction of the Defense of Marriage Act has come to the political forefront in part because of a 1993 Hawaii State Supreme Court decision. In the case of Baehr versus Lewin, the Hawaii State Supreme Court rules that the Hawaiian Constitution discriminates against the civil rights of same-sex couples by declaring that a legal marriage can only exist between individuals of the opposite sex.”