[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 94 (Tuesday, July 18, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H5367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             LEAVE ISSUE OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE TO THE STATES

  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak out of order for 5 
minutes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from 
Connecticut is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, today we debated a constitutional amendment 
drafted not to protect my marriage or my family, I see no reasonable 
way to argue it would, but rather to explicitly deny a portion of our 
society the right to marry and the benefits that accompany that kind of 
partnership.
  I do not advocate the legalization of gay marriage, but our 
Constitution is simply not the proper place to set this kind of social 
policy. I believed back in 1996 when I voted for the Defense of 
Marriage Act and I still believe today the decision about whether to 
recognize gay marriage should be left to the States.
  I can't help but wonder why we are doing this. What are we so afraid 
of? Gay men and women pass through our lives every day. They are 
wonderful teachers and leaders and role models who happen to be gay, 
and sometimes we don't even know they are gay. There are brave men and 
women buried in Arlington National Cemetery who happen to be gay.
  I wouldn't be a Member of Congress today if it weren't for an 
extraordinary teacher I had in high school 40 years ago. I learned 
years later he was gay and that he had to commute from Connecticut to 
Washington, D.C. to be with his partner every weekend, in part to 
protect his privacy and his job.
  When I went to college, my understanding of gay people was impacted 
again by my wife's best friend. One day she told us that she, too, like 
my wife and I, had found the love of her life. We were eager to meet 
the boyfriend she was so madly in love with. But we soon learned her 
love was not a he, but a she. Once we got over our surprise and our 
ways of thinking about relationships, we were able to sincerely rejoice 
in the joy they brought each other because we knew what a dear and good 
person our friend is.
  My perception of gay people evolved further during my first campaign 
for Congress when I worked with a magnificent young man named Carl 
Brown. He became my friend, and he gave me another gay face to know. 
Carl has since passed away from AIDS, but I remember him as a person of 
exceptional dignity and grace.
  My teacher, my wife's best friend, and Carl helped me understand 
their lives and I think made me a better person in the process.
  The Constitution of the United States, which established our 
government, grants us free speech and gives all citizens the right to 
vote, should not be dishonored by this effort to write in 
discrimination. I am clearly sensitive to some of my colleagues' 
concerns about potential biblical and social implications of legalized 
same-sex marriage, but I oppose this proposed amendment because I 
believe the Constitution is not the proper instrument to set or reject 
such policy. That debate should happen in our State legislatures.

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