The U.S. House of
Representatives on Tuesday rejected a proposed U.S.
constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, ending
for another year a congressional debate that
supporters of the ban hope will still reverberate in
this fall's midterm elections. The 236-187 vote for
the proposal to define marriage as a union of a man
and a woman was 47 short of the two-thirds majority
needed to advance a constitutional amendment. It
followed six weeks after the Senate also decisively defeated
the amendment.
But supporters
said the vote will make a difference when people got to
the polls in November. "The overwhelming majority of the
American people support traditional marriage," said
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Republican from Colorado,
sponsor of the amendment. "And the people have a right
to know whether their elected representatives agree with
them."
Opponents
dismissed the proposal as both discriminatory and
legislatively irrelevant because of the Senate vote.
The measure is "all for the purpose of pandering to a
narrow political base." said Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a gay
Democrat from Wisconsin. "This hateful and unnecessary
amendment is unworthy of our great Constitution."
The marriage
amendment is part of the "American values agenda" the
House is taking up this week that includes a Pledge of
Allegiance-protection bill and a vote on a bill
promoting embryonic stem cell research, which Bush is
expected to veto. Bush has asked--and social
conservatives demanded--that the same-sex marriage ban
be considered in the run-up to the election.
The White House,
in a statement Tuesday, urged passage of the measure.
"When activist judges insist on redefining the fundamental
institution of marriage for their states or potentially for
the entire country, the only alternative left to make
the people's voice heard is an amendment of the
Constitution."
The same-sex
marriage debate mirrors that of the 2004 election year, when
both the House and Senate fell well short of the two-thirds
majority needed to send a constitutional amendment to
the states. The Senate took up the measure last month
but fell 11 short of the 60 votes needed to advance
the legislation to a final vote. The last House vote on the
issue, just a month before the 2004 election, was
227-186 in favor of the amendment, 39 short of
the two-thirds majority needed to advance a
constitutional amendment.
The U.S.
Constitution has been amended only 27 times, including the
10 amendments of the Bill of Rights. In addition to
two-thirds congressional approval, a proposed
amendment must be ratified by three fourths of the
states. (AP)
