[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 122 (Monday, September 9, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10067-S10068]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      THE DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, during my years in the Senate I have been 
privileged on many occasions to work with a substantial number of 
ministers whose Washington churches today are referred to as ``African-
American.''
  These fine ministers have almost unanimously supported efforts by 
myself and Joe Gibbs and others to restore school prayer to the 
Nation's classrooms. They are, in the main, opposed to abortion. In 
fact, I do not recall even one of these ministers ever describing 
himself or herself as ``pro-choice.'' But that perhaps is neither here 
nor there in terms of what I am here this evening to speak about.
  The day before the Senate adjourned for the August recess, I ran into 
one of these fine ministers over in the Russell Building. His church is 
Baptist. He has a booming, cheerful voice. And when I heard that voice, 
I knew who it was. He was saying, ``Are you going home tomorrow?'' And 
I told him I thought I was since the Senate probably would recess for 
the month of August.
  I asked him, Mr. President, if he had a message for the folks back 
home. And he said, ``I sure do. Tell them that God created Adam and 
Eve--not Adam and Steve.''
  Some may chuckle at this good-natured minister's humor. But he meant 
exactly what he was saying. In fact, it was a sort of sermonette. The 
truth is, he was hitting the nail on the head, if you want to use that 
cliche, or telling it like it is. However one may choose to describe 
this minister's getting down to the nitty-gritty, it was no mere 
cliche, Mr. President. There could not have been, as a matter of fact, 
a better way to begin this debate in favor of the Defense of Marriage 
Act, which is H.R. 3396. The formal debate will begin tomorrow morning 
in this Chamber, the U.S. Senate.

[[Page S10068]]

  Now then, let there be no mistake about it, this bill in no way, to 
any degree, is the kind of legislation which homosexual and lesbian 
leaders have disdainfully described as a, to use their words, ``hate-
driven bill.''
  In fact, it is precisely the critics of H.R. 3396 who are demanding 
that homosexuality be considered as just another lifestyle--these are 
the people who seek to force their agenda upon the vast majority of 
Americans who reject the homosexual lifestyle.
  Indeed, Mr. President, the pending bill--the Defense of Marriage 
Act--will safeguard the sacred institutions of marriage and the family 
from those who seek to destroy them and who are willing to tear apart 
America's moral fabric in the process.
  Isn't it disheartening, Mr. President, that Congress must clarify the 
traditional definition of marriage? But inch by inch, little by little, 
the homosexual lobby has chipped away at the moral stamina of some of 
America's courts and some legislators, in order to create the shaky 
ground that exists today that prompts this legislation being the 
subject of debate tomorrow morning in the U.S. Senate.
  Just think, the prospect of a sovereign State's being compelled to 
recognize same-sex marriages sanctioned in another State is incredibly 
stark. If Hawaii's supreme court legalizes same-sex marriages in 
Hawaii, does the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution 
compel the other 49 States to recognize the new marriage law within 
their jurisdictions? I say no.
  Such a suggestion, Mr. President, is a cockeyed interpretation of the 
Constitution; and this is one of so many times that I have wished the 
late, great Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr., were here to cut it down to 
size. Homosexuals and lesbians boast that they are close to realizing 
their goal--legitimizing their behavior.
  Mr. President, Bill Bennett has championed the cause of preserving 
America's culture; he contends that we are already reaping the 
consequences of the devaluation of marriage. And he warns that ``it is 
exceedingly imprudent to conduct a radical, untested, and inherently 
flawed social experiment on an institution that is the keystone and the 
arch of civilization.''
  Bill Bennett is everlastingly right, and I believe the American 
people in the majority understand that the Defense of Marriage Act is 
vitally important. It will establish a simple, clear Federal definition 
of marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman, and it will 
exempt sovereign States from being compelled by a half-baked 
interpretation of the U.S. Constitution to recognize same-sex marriages 
wrongfully legalized in another State.
  If the Senate, tomorrow, makes the mistake of approving the 
Employment Nondiscrimination Act proposed by the Senator from 
Massachusetts, it will pave the way for liberal judges to threaten the 
business policies of countless American employers, and, in the long 
run, put in question the legality of the Defense of Marriage Act. The 
homosexual lobby knows this and that is why there is such a clamor 
favoring adoption of the Kennedy bill.
  Mr. President, at the heart of this debate is the moral and spiritual 
survival of this Nation. Alexis de Tocqueville said a century and a 
half ago that America had grown great because America was good. Mr. de 
Tocqueville also warned that if America made the mistake of ceasing to 
be good, America would cease to be great.
  So, we must confront the question posed long ago: ``Quo Vadis, 
America?''
  The Senate is about to answer that question. We will decide whither 
goeth America. It is solely up to us.

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