[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 19, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S3344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Marriage Equality

  Mr. President, finally, on marriage equality, this week, the House of 
Representatives is scheduled to vote on two pieces of legislation that 
will enshrine some of the most fundamental rights that every American 
should enjoy: the right to marriage equality and the access to 
contraceptives.
  These votes come at a disturbing and dangerous moment for our 
country. A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court concluded one of its worst 
and most destructive terms in history.
  Casting aside a half century of precedent, a conservative majority on 
the Court shamefully and disgustingly eliminated the fundamental right 
of women to make their own decisions regarding their bodies. It is a 
decision that will live in infamy, an indelible stain on the legacy of 
the highest Court in the land that will not be erased.
  Alarmingly, the nightmare is very likely far from over. The MAGA 
Republicans on the Court and the MAGA radicals who are taking over the 
Republican Party have made it abundantly clear they are not satisfied 
with repealing Roe. As I said, it is an indelible stain, and the 
attempts by some to talk it away and erase it will not happen because 
it is such a bad stain.
  Anyway, the MAGA Republicans who are taking over the Republican Party 
have made it abundantly clear they are not satisfied with repealing 
Roe. As many have openly said, they have turned their attention now to 
the Obergefell decision and marriage equality.
  A few days ago, the junior Senator from Texas said the Supreme 
Court's decision protecting marriage equality was ``clearly wrong'' and 
argued that partisan State legislatures should determine who can and 
cannot get married. Other MAGA Republicans have echoed the same thing. 
We need to think--we need to pause and think about how unhinged--
unhinged--this idea is.
  Fresh off repealing the rights of every single woman in this country, 
MAGA Republicans now want to reopen the doors for discrimination and 
hatred targeted against same-sex couples. Even one of the Justices on 
the Supreme Court indicated in his opinion that gay marriage should be 
reconsidered by the courts.
  This is the future that MAGA Republicans clamor for: one where women 
and same-sex couples are branded as second-class citizens. If they 
succeed, they will take our country down a dark path from which there 
may be no return, although we will fight it tooth and nail. Every 
single American should stand in opposition against these MAGA 
Republican views.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.