The Eagle Forum is reporting that the erroneously named "Respect for Marriage Act," which calls for the repeal of DOMA, was passed by a straight party line vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. All 10 Democrats voted Yes and all eight Republicans voted No. The vote is considered to be largely symbolic to appease same-sex marriage supporters and Harry Reid has already said he has no intention of bringing it to the floor for a vote because it will almost certainly fail to pass.
However, some reports from Capitol Hill are saying that same-sex marriage supporters are considering introducing the bill as an amendment to the Department of Defense (DOD) Authorization Bill.
"As outrageous as this sounds, it is becoming a liberal tradition," writes Colleen Holmes, executive director of the Eagle Forum.
"This would be the third consecutive year that the liberal Senate has attached an item from the radical liberal wish list to this bill that is so important to our nation's defense, knowing that our legislators respect our military and don’t like to oppose defense-related authorization bills. Last year, they attempted to attach a repeal of the 1993 law prohibiting homosexuals from openly serving in the military, and the year before that, liberals attached a federal 'hate crimes' bill to the DOD Authorization Bill."
DOMA, which was passed in 1996, defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman and requires federal agencies to apply this definition to all federal policies. Now that six states have legalized same-sex marriage, mostly by judicial or legislative fiat, this law has become the firewall which protects states from being forced to recognize and subsidize homosexual unions in states where it is legal. In the 31 states where the issue of same-sex marriage was put to a popular vote, the public overwhelming voted in favor of traditional marriage.
"Marriage is not some prize that liberals can award to a small, vocal and already well-off special interest group," says Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. "Marriage between one man and one woman was created prior to the formation of any governments and is given benefits by governments because it uniquely contributes to a productive society.
"DOMA has stood the test of time, being upheld as constitutional by several courts and successfully ensuring that federal law reflects our national consensus on marriage and that states will not have a radical redefinition of marriage forced upon them by other states."
The Eagle Forum is encouraging all concerned citizens to contact their lawmakers about this critical issue before it's too late.
Click here to contact your representative or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
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