Feingold, Specter
Clash Over Gay Marriage
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, May 18, 2006
WASHINGTON -- A Senate
committee approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage
Thursday, after a shouting match that ended when one Democrat strode out and the
Republican chairman bid him ''good riddance.''
''I don't need to be lectured by you. You are no more a protector of the
Constitution than am I,'' Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa.,
shouted after Sen. Russ Feingold declared his opposition to the amendment, his
affinity for the Constitution and his intention to leave the meeting.
''If you want to leave, good riddance,'' Specter finished.
''I've enjoyed your lecture, too, Mr. Chairman,'' replied Feingold, D-Wis., who
is considering a run for president in 2008. ''See ya.''
Amid increasing partisan tension over President Bush's judicial nominees and
domestic wiretapping, the panel voted along party lines to send the
constitutional amendment -- which would prohibit states from recognizing
same-sex marriages -- to the full Senate, where it stands little chance of
passing.
Democrats complained that bringing up the amendment is a purely political move
designed to appeal to the GOP's conservative base in this year of midterm
elections. Under the domed ceiling of the ornate and historic President's
Room off the Senate floor, senators voted 10-8 to send the measure forward.
Among Feingold's objections was Specter's decision to hold the vote in the
President's Room, where access by the general public is restricted, instead of
in the panel's usual home in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Specter later said he would have been willing to hold the session in the usual
room had he thought doing so would change votes.
Not all those who voted ''yes'' support the amendment, however. Specter
said he is ''totally opposed'' to it, but felt it deserved a debate in the
Senate.
''Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a
woman,'' reads the measure, which would require approval by two-thirds of
Congress and three-fourths of the states.
''Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be
construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred
upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman,'' it says.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has scheduled a vote on the proposed amendment
the week of June 5.
The issue has ignited a cultural and political debate over what constitutes
marriage and the legal rights of gay partners.
Earlier this week, Georgia announced it will appeal a judge's ruling that struck
down its voter-approved ban on gay marriage. Gov. Sonny Perdue said he
will call a special legislative session if the state Supreme Court doesn't rule
on the issue soon.
The Georgia constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage was approved by
76 percent of the state's voters in November 2004. On Tuesday, however,
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Constance C. Russell ruled the measure
violated the Georgia constitution's single-subject rules for ballot questions.
The issue has been on the political radar across the nation for more than two
years.
On Election Day in 2004, a presidential year, initiatives on gay marriage and
civil unions were on the ballot in 11 states, driven in part by opposition to
the Massachusetts state Supreme Judicial Court's recognition of same-sex
marriage and Republican calculations that the issue would send conservative
voters to the polls.
Two states -- Louisiana and Missouri -- had approved bans earlier in the year.
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