[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 28 (Monday, February 28, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           PRESIDENT OBAMA'S DECISION TO STOP DEFENDING DOMA

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                           HON. VIRGINIA FOXX

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 28, 2011

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, President Obama's decision to halt the federal 
government's defense of a congressionally enacted law, the Defense of 
Marriage Act, is a great disappointment. When the Attorney General and 
President of the United States take it upon themselves to determine 
which laws are worth defending and which are not, they are undermining 
the law-making role of Congress and the law-reviewing role of the 
courts. There is a reason it's called judicial review, not executive 
review.
  The President should not be picking and choosing which laws to 
enforce. If Congress passes a law and the courts have not deemed it 
unconstitutional, it is the executive branch's responsibility to defend 
and uphold that law, whether or not the chief executive agrees with the 
premise of that law. To do otherwise sets a very bad precedent.
  Plus, this raises questions about the President's insistence on 
moving forward with last year's health care overhaul law. After all, 
unlike DOMA, this law has already been deemed unconstitutional by more 
than one federal judge.

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