Jim Sensenbrenner: “But to insinuate that this bill is an attack on the foundations of our government is just plain wrong. The framers of…”

“But to insinuate that this bill is an attack on the foundations of our government is just plain wrong. The framers of the Constitution put in Article III, Section 2 relating to the jurisdiction of the Federal courts, inferior Federal courts and the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to provide a check by the legislative branch of government on the judicial branch of government, and we have heard quotes from Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln expressing their fears about judicial power being unchecked. This bill is a check on judicial power, and the question is whether we should have the elected representatives of the people, in this case the Congress today and the State legislatures in the future, determining Federal marriage policy, or whether we should have a Federal judge stating that for a State to take a different position than a divided court in Massachusetts is an unconstitutional deprivation of rights.”