[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 95 (Wednesday, July 19, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     MARRIAGE PROTECTION AMENDMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 18, 2006

  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, once again this Republican 
led Congress is exercising an election year ploy with their attempt 
today to demonize gay and lesbian Americans. H.J. Res. 88 is an attempt 
to write hate and discrimination into our Nation's Constitution and 
disgracefully use this House to advance a cynical and cruel political 
agenda. While my Republican colleagues are actively working to 
transform the Constitution into a document of discrimination by passing 
H.J. Res. 88, the rest of America is concerned about very real and 
serious issues that this Congress is ignoring.
  American families are concerned about real issues that affect their 
daily lives like the price of gasoline as it rises above $3 per gallon, 
the deteriorating situation in Iraq that is costing the American people 
the lives of their loved ones and $3 billion per week, and they are 
deeply concerned about the skyrocketing cost of healthcare and 
prescription drugs while at the same time insurance and drug companies 
report massive profits. The American people are not threatened by men 
and women in loving and committed relationships. They are threatened 
and at risk by a do-nothing Congress that ignores the real challenges 
facing America.
  President Bush and his followers seek to permanently enshrine 
discrimination and hate as part of our Constitution. Nothing could be 
more disgraceful and fundamentally un-American. I am committed to 
defeat this intolerance and work tirelessly for equal rights, justice 
and respect for all Americans. Gay and lesbian Americans are citizens 
who must never be treated as second class citizens, as H.J. Res. 88 
proposes. They must be guaranteed what America's founding fathers 
called for in the Declaration of Independence when they stated, ``all 
Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the 
Pursuit of Happiness.''
  I urge my colleagues to reject discrimination and hate by voting 
against H.J. Res. 88.

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