Patrick Leahy: “Not surprisingly, those letters have gone unanswered. In fact, the administration didn't even send a representative to…”

“Not surprisingly, those letters have gone unanswered. In fact, the administration didn't even send a representative to any of the committee hearings that the Judiciary Committee had on this amendment, nor did the administration comment on the specifics of the current proposal or respond to questions about its language. The general endorsement of the Bush-Cheney administration has been more in the nature of a political campaign, more of a signal than of substance. We could use a lot more substance up here and a few less signals. The President's recent statements on Saturday and at the rally today, adjacent to the White House, remain general and vague. After the last campaign and his reelection, the President indicated that he had no intention of including such an amendment among his administration's top priorities. He had no intention of pressing Congress to approve it. Suddenly, we are away from that election, we are approaching another election. Golly gee whiz, what has changed? What has changed in that time? Well, his standing in the public opinion polls, for one; or the agitation of the right-wing elements of his base, which he always responds to. I remember a time when leaving States in control of issues of family law was an easy decision for Members of both sides of the aisle to make.…”