[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 15789]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, after the debacle in the other body over 
the same-sex marriage amendment which would have been the first time in 
American history the Constitution would have been used to deny people's 
rights, there are rumors that the House Republican leadership would 
like to bring this doomed proposal to our Chamber in an effort to keep 
us away from issues that we could actually do something about.
  One would hope that the Republican leadership would learn from 
watching the President and the leadership of the Republicans in the 
other body as they tied up the Senate for days, only to shoot 
themselves in the foot. Republicans in the other body could not agree 
amongst themselves, and the Vice President could not agree with his 
wife. In fact, the Vice President could not even agree with his own 
position on this issue from a few years ago.
  For a President who claimed to come to Washington, DC, as a uniter, 
this represents another spectacular failure. Efforts to use sexual 
orientation as a political tool to divide this country for political 
advantage are shameful and will ultimately fail. One only hopes the 
voters will hold people who use this tool accountable sooner rather 
than later.

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