Political Quotes

“this week we began with the consideration of a constitutional amendment on the institution of marriage, an important dialog, I felt, for this body. We had a good debate on both sides of the aisle on the definition of marriage. I thank my colleagues for keeping the debate on the subject, very civil, and handled in a very respectable way. I personally was disappointed we did not succeed in getting to the consideration of the text of the amendment. As to the timing of the amendment, people kept questioning again and again, Why did you bring it up now? It was clearly determined by the fact that we had activist judges, beginning in the middle of May, in Massachusetts who radically redefined what marriage over the thousands of years has been interpreted to be. Right now there are lawsuits pending in 11 other States, and it is just a matter of time before the definition of marriage between a man and a woman will be destroyed in all 50 States. Amending the Constitution to protect marriage is the only viable option left to Congress. It is a debate we did not seek, but it was one that was brought to us by another branch of Government by activist judges who determined what that definition is. It is important for the legislative branch, directly elected by the American people, to express itself on this issue. We simply are not going to shirk from our responsibility to protect marriage, and we deserve to have a say in the matter.”