[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20043]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     MARRIAGE PROTECTION 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, much has been said about the need to 
protect the definition of marriage for the future. While I 
wholeheartedly agree, I would like to offer a perspective from the past 
on the importance of marriage in America.
  Alexis de Tocqueville perhaps provided the most comprehensive 
analysis of American society in the 1830s. He observed that there is 
certainly no country in the world where the tie of marriage is more 
respected than in America.
  In 1885 the United States Supreme Court added its opinion stating, 
``Certainly no legislation can be supposed more wholesome and necessary 
in the founding of a free, self-governing commonwealth than that which 
establishes it on the idea of the family, consisting of the union for 
life of one man and one woman in the holy estate of matrimony; the 
family is the sure foundation of all that is stable and noble in our 
civilization.''
  Historically, marriage between one man and one woman has been the 
cornerstone of stable families. The marriage protection amendment will 
ensure that the definition of marriage in America does not change based 
upon the whim of an activist judge. It will protect the rights of each 
State and the will of the people. I urge Members to support the 
marriage protection amendment. It is necessary for the preservation of 
the historic institution of the family.

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