[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16826]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT

  (Mr. RYUN of Kansas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RYUN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the proposed 
Federal marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
  Marriage for thousands of years has been between one man and one 
woman. This body passed the Defense of Marriage Act, along with 38 
State legislatures. Yet in recent years, courts and other government 
authorities have actually worked against these efforts to protect 
marriage.
  Today, because of local government authorities, homosexual couples 
are able to be married in certain States and cities in our country. It 
will not be long until a couple will try to force another State to 
recognize this marriage; and sooner or later, they will find a Federal 
judge who will side with them.
  Congress must take a stand now against these efforts to thwart the 
will of Congress, State legislatures, and the American people. Thus 
far, Federal law has not stopped courts from ruling in favor of these 
illegal unions. Organizations have challenged DOMA in arenas that 
further remove the decision-making process from the general public and 
their elected representatives, barring the majority of Americans from 
being heard during the process.
  We should support efforts to block Federal judges from overriding 
DOMA, but only the Federal marriage amendment can protect the American 
people's will from being silenced once and for all.

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