Statement in Reaction to Todays Senate Vote on the Proposed Amendment Banning Gay Marriage

Federal News Service July 14, 2004 Wednesday

Copyright 2004 The Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service

July 14, 2004 Wednesday

SECTION: PRESS CONFERENCE OR SPEECH

LENGTH: 2761 words

HEADLINE: STATEMENTS IN REACTION TO TODAY'S SENATE VOTE ON THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION BANNING GAY MARRIAGE

SPEAKERS: SENATOR PATRICK J. LEAHY (D-VT);

REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPH CROWLEY (D-NY);

REPRESENTATIVE DIANA DEGETTE (D-CO);

WADE HENDERSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL RIGHTS;

CHERYL JACQUES, PRESIDENT, HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN;

LAURA MURPHY, DIRECTOR, ACLU WASHINGTON OFFICE;

REV. BARRY LYNN, DIRECTOR, AMERICANS UNITED FOR THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE;

LISALYN JACOBS, VICE PRESIDENT FOR GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, LEGAL MOMENTUM; REV. JANE HOLMES DIXON, RETIRED BISHOP OF WASHINGTON PRO TEMPORE MARTIN ORNELAS-QUINTERO, DIRECTOR, LLEGO

LOCATION: SENATE PARK

BODY:

SEN. LEAHY: Good afternoon. We've-the vote, the end of the vote was delayed a little bit because I guess not everybody's shown, but enough have done to know where we are.

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And with me is one of the members from Colorado, Diana DeGette.

REP. DEGETTE: Thank you very much, Joe.

I'm Congresswoman Diana DeGette, from the 1st Congressional District of Colorado. I'm also the House floor whip for the Democrats.

And I have a message for the Republican leadership in the House: Take a clue from the Senate. The support is not there in Congress for a constitutional amendment that would remove rights for a group of Americans. Congress has serious business to do and we have five more weeks of legislative business left to do it in.

Not even a majority of votes could be mustered for this amendment in the Senate, much less the two-thirds required. The same is true in the House. I've been one of the members, including Mr. Crowley, Tammy Baldwin, Barney Frank and others, who have been counting the votes in the House.

The votes are not there in the House to amend the Constitution.

So let's call this what it really is: a blatant attempt to prey on Americans' fears to affect the outcome of the election in November. This is wrong. Americans should not and will not stand for it, and I ask the Republican leadership in the House to focus on the issues that we care about: jobs, the continuing threat of terrorism, health care for all of our children, and a cohesive environmental policy that will stop the kinds of blackouts that we had last summer. Let's focus on these issues, not just this week and next week but in the fall, as Americans will be deciding who they will vote for in the polls. Let's not use this vote, which they know they will lose, to tie up our time. Let's conduct the people's business, and let's do it now.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

MS. JACQUES: Thank you.

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