Marriage Protection Act of 2004

MARRIAGE PROTECTION ACT OF 2004 -- (House of Representatives - July 22, 2004)

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 734, I call up the bill (H.R. 3313) to amend title 28, United States Code, to limit Federal court jurisdiction over questions under the Defense of Marriage Act, and ask for its immediate consideration.

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3313.

While I believe the institution of marriage should consist of one man and one woman, and I voted for the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, I cannot support this bill. The Defense of Marriage Act has to my knowledge not been challenged in the Federal court, and it seems like we are putting the cart before the horse. We should allow our system of checks and balances to work like our Founding Fathers designed it.

Whatever Massachusetts, Vermont and Hawaii does regarding their marriage license does not change how Texas law does marriages.

In Texas we already have a law that states the institution of marriage is one man, one woman. We also have a law that states that Texas does not have to recognize marriages that are performed outside the State of Texas. The Defense of Marriage Act supports our State law. Marriage is a State issue and not a Federal issue. We do not seek marriage licenses in the Federal courthouses.

What this bill is about is continued efforts of this administration and Republicans in Congress to divide our country when we really need unity.

Just today we heard that while our troops are fighting for our country, they are short $12 billion in funding, even with all the supplementals we voted for. Maybe this administration, the Republicans, need to spend more time explaining why our troops waited months for body armor and armor for their Humvees and we are still $12 billion short.

Let us spend time protecting our country and not worry about "my" 34 years of marriage. And once again, this administration has the wrong priorities