[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19105]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      THE DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT, AN AFFRONT TO AMERICA'S VALUES

  (Mr. QUIGLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Madam Speaker, in 1996 Congress passed the so-called 
Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. It was then, as it still is today, an 
affront to our country's values--the values we hold true as established 
in the Declaration of Independence, those of life, liberty, the pursuit 
of happiness, and of equality and fairness for all.
  On October 7 of this year, I held a field forum in Chicago, along 
with my colleague Jan Schakowsky, to hear from legal experts and gay 
and lesbian couples about the real-world harm caused by DOMA. The 
findings were startling. I ask that the clerk enter all of their 
testimony into the Record to formally document this collection of 
unfairness and inequity, burdens that are imposed on normal Americans 
who are just trying to live normal lives.
  It is incomprehensible that today we are still dealing with such 
injustice. Congress created this injustice, and Congress should correct 
it. Let the Record reflect these sentiments.

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