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| | Most Arkansas U.S. House members support gay marriage amendment
Thursday, Sep 30, 2004 By Alison Vekshin Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Three of the four Arkansas members of the U.S. House said Wednesday they planned to vote for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage when it comes up for consideration on Thursday. Citing beliefs that marriage should be defined solely as being between a man and a woman, Reps. John Boozman, R-Rogers, Mike Ross, D-Prescott, and Marion Berry, D-Gillett, said they would vote for the amendment. Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, said he would vote against the amendment. While he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, he said the states should decide on the definition. The House is expected to vote Thursday on a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that would define marriage in the United States as consisting "solely of the union of a man and a woman." "I will vote for the amendment because the overwhelming majority of my constituents in the district have let me know by telephone calls, mail and faxes that they are very much in favor of protecting the traditional definition of marriage," said Boozman, who is among the resolution's 76 co-sponsors. Boozman's office has logged 269 correspondences so far this month from constituents supporting the amendment, spokesman Patrick Creamer said. Fifteen correspondences have been logged against it. Boozman said leaving the issue to the states "would be the best solution." But he expressed concern that federal judges could use their rulings to "erode the definition of marriage as we know it." Berry said his vote was driven by the interests of his constituents, and also his "conscience and personal convictions." "I think marriage is between one man and one woman and that's all there is to that," he said. Snyder said his views are comparable to those of Vice President Dick Cheney. "Marital law needs to be left to the states to define," Snyder said. "That includes the right of states to recognize and not recognize marriages." Snyder said that his personal view is that marriage is between a man and a woman. Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both D-Ark., echoed Snyder's beliefs when the issue came before the Senate in July. The Senate measure failed during a procedural vote. The House is not expected to pass the resolution by the two-thirds vote necessary for constitutional amendments. Since the issue failed to win Senate approval, it does not stand a chance at passage in this Congress even if it passes the House. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, conceded this week he expected the amendment would fail to pass the House. Ross said the issue is "very political." "The bottom line is the only reason we're voting for it in the House is that we have an election coming up," he said. Snyder agreed, calling it "election-year politics." "This has already failed in the U.S. Senate," Snyder said. "It's not going anywhere. It's not going to pass here in the House. It's dead. "This is Tom DeLay and the House Republicans wasting the time of the American people," Snyder said. Voters in Arkansas will have their own say on the issue on Nov. 2 when they will consider a state constitutional amendment defining marriage that will appear on the state election ballot. Titled "An Amendment Concerning Marriage," it defines marriage as consisting "only of the union of one man and one woman." The amendment stipulates that legal status for unmarried people which is similar or identical to marital status will not be valid or recognized in Arkansas. In July, the state certified the proposal as Amendment 3 after a group called the Arkansas Marriage Amendment Committee collected enough signatures to place it on the ballot. Arkansas is one of 13 states to include a proposal for a state constitutional amendment defining marriage on its ballot in this election cycle, said Christi Goodman, program manager at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Voters in Missouri passed their amendment in August, while Louisiana voters passed theirs earlier this month. But the Arkansas ballot initiative is being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, which has filed a petition with the state Supreme Court asking that it be removed from the ballot. The ballot initiative prohibits any kind of same-sex recognition, including civil union and domestic partnership, said Rita Sklar, the group's executive director. "Those things are not named explicitly in the amendment, but are referred to with deliberately vague language," Sklar said. Sklar said she was disappointed Arkansas lawmakers "would vote for and write discrimination into the Constitution, whatever their political party affiliation." Jerry Cox, president of the Arkansas Marriage Amendment Committee, said he expected the court to issue a decision on Thursday. Although Arkansas already has a statute banning gay marriage, Cox said a state constitutional amendment was necessary to prevent the Arkansas Supreme Court from redefining marriage as justices in Massachusetts have done. If approved, the gay marriage amendment would go into effect in January, Cox said. -- 30 -- |
