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Congressman Jim Bridenstine on Court Striking Oklahoma Marriage Law

Statement

Date: Jan. 14, 2014
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Federal, State and Local Relations Family

Statement from Congressman Bridenstine:

Today a federal judge, Terence Kern, in Tulsa, wrongly declared that Oklahoma's constitutional amendment protecting the institution of marriage violates the federal Constitution. The amendment to the State constitution was approved by 75% of voters in 2004.

Under the limited federal powers enumerated in Article I Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution and the 10th Amendment, which recognizes that powers not delegated to the federal government are retained by the states and the people, a federal judge has no place to dictate the terms of marriage in Oklahoma. The State Constitution overrides a federal judge's personal opinion.

In his decision Kern called the ban an "exclusion of just one class of Oklahoma citizens from a governmental benefit." Marriage is not a "governmental benefit." Marriage is the foundational institution in our culture which recognizes the very unique and complimentary contributions men and women make in the raising of children.


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