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Statement from Senator Coons on Speaker Boehner's Tripling of Taxpayer-Funded Discrimination Defense Fund

Statement

Date: Oct. 4, 2011
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Defense

U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act and a committed advocate for equality, released the following statement after House Speaker John Boehner revealed that he has increased the cap on legal fees from $500,000 to $1.5 million for private lawyers to defend the Defense of Marriage Act.

"For some in Congress to force taxpayers to defend discrimination is simply outrageous. Every day Congress fights over funding to keep teachers in classrooms and police on the streets, so the idea of spending $1.5 million in taxpayer dollars on lawyers to defend a law that targets LGBT Americans is beyond the pale. I strongly urge Speaker Boehner to rethink this misguided strategy and reinvest these funds in something that might create jobs for America's middle class."


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