DeMint Supports Marriage Protection Amendment

DeMint Supports Marriage Protection Amendment

Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) joined freshman U.S. Senators Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), David Vitter (R-La.), and John Thune (R-S.D.) at a press conference in support of the Marriage Protection Amendment that would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

"Marriage is America's most important institution that must be both cherished and protected," said Senator DeMint. "We cannot allow activist judges to force their personal views on American families that overwhelmingly support traditional marriage."

Forty-five of the fifty states have either a state constitutional amendment or statute defining marriage as a union of a man and a woman. In 2004 and 2005, voters in fourteen states overwhelmingly passed constitutional amendments protecting marriage. To date, nineteen states have state constitutional amendments, and voters will decide on seven more state amendments in 2006. However, an onslaught of state lawsuits is threatening to render these efforts meaningless.

Currently, nine states face lawsuits challenging their marriage laws. California, Maryland, New York and Washington state trial courts have followed Massachusetts and found their state marriage laws unconstitutional. A federal judge in Nebraska has already struck down that state's popularly enacted marriage amendment. State supreme courts in New Jersey, Washington and New York, in particular, could decide marriage cases in 2006.

"The federal government has done much to diminish marriage through misguided social programs and court rulings. It is time for Congress to stand up and defend marriage from judges who want to destroy it," said Senator DeMint. "A constitutional amendment is the only way to protect marriage for our children and our future, and I support it wholeheartedly."

http://demint.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=384&Month=6&Year=2006