Marriage Protection Amendment

MARRIAGE PROTECTION AMENDMENT -- (House of Representatives - September 30, 2004)

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Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I want everyone to keep in mind in the midst of this debate that a primary benefit of marriage is that it provides children with a mother and father from whom they can learn and be protected. What we are talking about today is whether or not we as a Nation will work to reaffirm an institution that provides profound benefits for children.

It is correct that there are millions of men and women in this country who bravely raise children as single parents, and I applaud them for that. But there is an ideal for our children. Social science and everyday experiences teach us that children raised without the presence of both a mother and a father experience more poverty, more substance abuse, a higher rate of educational failure, and much more. Given the importance of marriage in the presence of a mother and father for our children's general welfare, this institution must remain strong.

As a wife and a mother of two sons, I know the importance of children having both a mother and father. When our boys were growing up, my presence was important and irreplaceable. Studies have shown that young men raised by both a mother and father have more positive attitudes toward women, children, and family life. This is exceedingly important, as our society benefits when boys grow up to be men who take raising children seriously. My husband also played an equally important role in the lives of our boys, the role of father, a role that I could never play.

It is true the future of marriage as a strong institution goes far beyond whether or not the Constitution is amended to reaffirm the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. This does not mean that the Marriage Protection Amendment is unimportant. As a society, we will have no hope of strengthening the bonds of marriage without a unified, national definition of marriage that promotes the ideal for our children, that of being raised by both a mother and a father.

As an original cosponsor of this amendment for the last 3 years, I stand in strong support of the Marriage Protection Amendment, and I urge its passage.