(Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, the President's
presidential prayer team is urging us to ``pray for the President as
he seeks wisdom on how to legally codify the definition of marriage.
Pray that it will be according to Biblical principles.''
With that in mind, I thought I would remind the body of the
biblical principles they are talking about.
Marriage shall consist of a union between one man and one or
more women. That is from Genesis 29:17-28.
Secondly, marriage shall not impede a man's right to take
concubines in addition to his wife or wives. That is II Samuel 5:13
and II Chronicles 11:21.
A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a
virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. That is
Deuteronomy 22:13.
Marriage of a believer and a nonbeliever shall be forbidden.
That is Genesis 24:3.
Finally, it says that since there is no law that can change
things, divorce is not possible, and finally, if a married man dies,
his brother has to marry his sister-in-law.