President Bush called for aconstitutional ban on gay marriage on Monday as Republicans started to debate the issue in the Senate amid accusations of pandering to conservatives.
“Today, 45 of the 50 states have either a state constitutional amendment or a statute defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman,” Bush told a group of political and religious leaders at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
“Unfortunately, this consensus is being undermined by activist judges and local officials who have struck down state laws protecting marriage and made an aggressive attempt to redefine marriage,” he said.
Liberals predicted the Senate push for a constitutional amendment would fail, as it did two years ago.
“Lawmakers rightly rejected it in 2004, but election-year politics and Republicans pandering to their base have resurrected this mean-spirited amendment,” said Caroline Fredrickson of the American Civil Liberties Union. “Congress must — and will — reject this anti-family proposal again.”
Many political observers say Bush is resurrecting the gay marriage issue in hopes of energizing disaffected conservatives in advance of the November elections. But White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said Bush brought up the issue in recent days merely because the Senate takes up the debate today.
“Of course there’s a political dimension to it — there’s going to be a Senate vote on it, for heaven’s sakes,” he told reporters. “Naturally, there are political dimensions on both sides.”
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would oppose the amendment, even though he believes marriage is between a man and a woman.
“The reason for this debate is to divide our society, to pit one against another,” he said. “This is another one of the president’s efforts to frighten, to distort, to distract and to confuse America.”
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., sponsor of the proposedconstitutional amendment, disagreed.
“Marriage is under attack,” he said. “Since 2004, same-sex marriage advocates have intensified their campaign to circumvent the democratic process and redefine marriage through the courts.”
