By Bob Roehr
Social conservatives are pushing for a vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) in the US House of Representatives as part of the strategy to turn out their electoral base. That vote could come as early as the week of September 27.
Supporters couldn't even muster a majority vote in the Senate to close off debate on the measure in July, and a two-thirds vote is required to pass a constitutional amendment. Opponents would like to see the same outcome in the House but the situation is fluid and they are wary of making any predictions about even blocking adoption of the amendment.
"The extremists are working to ensure a vote in the House on the FMA," Cheryl Jacques, president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) told reporters on a September 17 conference call. "We all know that this is nothing but a political effort to draw attention away from Congress's failure to do something about the economy, health care costs, and national security."
She said the Republican leadership wants to highlight gay marriage as a wedge issue but not end the session on that note. The closing issues will be national security. "They are walking that tightrope on how far they can push it back and not have it bite them."
"We need to send a message that playing politics with people's lives is wrong. We need to discourage future votes on this issue by showing that it's a waste of time." Jacques said the entire community, its friends and allies, must put pressure on Congress, "We know the other side is putting pressure on."
Only 144 votes are needed to block adoption of a constitutional amendment in the House. While Democrats are in the minority, they do have 208 members and could easily block the FMA on their own.
HRC legislative director Christopher Labonte said, "The Democratic leadership has been working their members hard. But this is an election year and members are hearing from volumes of their constituents."
The House passed the Marriage Protection Act of 2004 (MPA) on July 22 by a vote of 233 to 194. It would strip federal courts of the authority to deal with issues concerning gay marriage.
"We heard people say, 'I've got to vote for this because I'm going to be with you on the FMA and I need [political] cover,'" Jacques said. Labonte believes that most of the people who used that argument to vote for the MPA will vote against the FMA.
Anti-FMA leadership on the Republican side of the aisle is coming from openly gay Rep. Jim Kolbe (Arizona) and Rep. Nancy Johnson (Connecticut).
Social conservatives led by James Dobson and Focus on the Family are implementing "Battle for Marriage III," a satellite hook up and webcast on Sunday, September 20, to rally their supporters to contact members of Congress. Their previous efforts jammed the Capitol switchboard and are likely to do so again.
