Voting along partisan lines the Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to end the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In 1996 the Defense of Marriage Act was approved by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in both house of Congress (85-14 in the Senate and 342-67 in the House). President Clinton signed the bill into effect in 1996 with this statement: “I have long opposed governmental recognition of same-gender marriages, and this legislation is consistent with that position.”
The ridiculously named and disrespectful “Respect for Marriage Act” that passed out of committee today flies in the face of the wishes of 31 states that have codified marriage – either in their constitution or in their statutes or in many cases both -as the union of one man and one woman.
Undermining and eventually destroying the Defense of Marriage Act is the stated goal of the current U.S. administration as they have refused to defend DOMA. They have abdicated their responsibility leaving the House of Representatives to do the job. Today’s vote shows how members of the senate do not understand the will of the American people. The repeal of DOMA would open the door to taxpayers being forced to subsidize homosexual couples by providing them with federal benefits.
There is little chance that this “Dis”Respect for Marriage Act will get much traction elsewhere in Congress, but now is the time to contact your Senators and let them know your opinion on what occurred today. Tell them to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and to not allow any of its provisions to be overturned.