Citizen Outreach's President Says Bush's Marriage Statement Raises More Questions than it Answers; 'Split the Baby' Positioning Doesn't Take Controversy off the Table.Business Editors/Political Writers WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 2003 Citizen Outreach President Chuck Muth issued the following statement in response to President Bush's remarks to ABC's Diane Sawyer Tuesday evening on a potential federal marriage amendment The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) (also known as the Marriage Protection Amendment) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would define marriage in the United States as a union of one man and one woman. : "Rather than take the highly emotional issue of a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage off the table in his comments to Diane Sawyer, President Bush instead assured the issue will continue to be hotly debated, especially among limited-government conservatives. In reality, the president's 'split the baby' statement raises more questions than it answers, to wit: 1) By saying he'll support a marriage amendment 'if necessary,' does the president mean only if the federal Defense of Marriage Act is somehow nullified nul·li·fy tr.v. nul·li·fied, nul·li·fy·ing, nul·li·fies 1. To make null; invalidate. 2. To counteract the force or effectiveness of. by a court? And if protecting states' rights states' rights, in U.S. history, doctrine based on the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, which states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. is his objective, why not just codify codify to arrange and label a system of laws. DOMA DOMA Defense of Marriage Act in the Constitution rather than support a national ban on gay marriage? 2) Would President Bush support gay marriage in Massachusetts, or any other state, if the state passed it through their legislature rather than via court edict A decree or law of major import promulgated by a king, queen, or other sovereign of a government. An edict can be distinguished from a public proclamation in that an edict puts a new statute into effect whereas a public proclamation is no more than a declaration of a law ? 3) One thing about the current language of the FMA FMA Full Metal Alchemist (gaming) FMA Federal Marriage Amendment FMA Financial Market Authority (Austrian: Österreichische Finanzmarktaufsicht) FMA Financial Management Association is that not only does it prohibit gay marriage, it also prohibits 'the legal incidents thereof' -- meaning civil unions. Does the president support an amendment that would ban civil unions as well? 4) If a Constitutional amendment is passed banning gay marriage, how would the obvious conflict be resolved with the First Amendment protection of religion should a church in the United States decide to recognize gay marriages? 5) In saying he supports protecting 'the sanctity of marriage,' does that include heterosexual weddings performed by Elvis impersonators at drive-through windows in Las Vegas and marriage-for-money heterosexual unions performed on network TV? "The more deeply conservatives look at the idea of amending our founding document to define marriage, the more they see this is a very bad idea. The best thing government can do to help protect the institution of marriage is to get out of it altogether, and turn it back over to the churches and other cultural institutions." Citizen Outreach is a nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. in Washington, with more than 25,000 supporters who champion limited-government public policies. For additional information on conservative opposition to the federal marriage amendment, please visit www.lawfullywedded.com. |
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