Harman Statement Denouncing the Federal Marraige Amendment
HARMAN STATEMENT DENOUNCING THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT
Calls measure equivalent of "government sanctioned discrimination"
Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), Ranking Member on the House Intelligence Committee and one of only 67 members to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, today issued the following statement in opposition to legislation aimed at amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage:
"Mr. Speaker, how ironic that we consider this discriminatory, so-called Marriage Protection measure just one week after successfully renewing by a strong bipartisan margin a landmark piece of civil rights legislation, the Voting Rights Act.
The Voting Rights Act brought millions of Americans into the heart of American democracy. It has been a critical milestone in our nation's ongoing quest to live up to the ideals of equality and freedom embodied in the Constitution. In contrast, today's legislation, if passed, would be a tragic step backwards.
Amending the Constitution to limit the rights of a specific group amounts to government-sanctioned discrimination, and tramples on the prerogative of the States to define community values.
Regulation of marriage is historically a state-sanctioned enterprise. How hypocritical it is for those who often invoke States rights to claim this is a Federal issue.
I believe I understand something about the cruel effects of discrimination - on the individual and society at large. You see, my father was a refugee from Nazi Germany. His medical school class was the last to graduate before the Nazi purges of Jewish students began. He, and some of my family, fled Germany a year later.
Mr. Speaker, one of the greatest joys of my life occurred recently: I became a grandmother for the first time. I urge this house to carefully assess how our action today impacts future generations. And I hope for little Lucy that she will live in a world in which prejudice and discrimination are mere footnotes in her high school history book."
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ca36_harman/July_18_06.html