House Vote Falls Short—But We Are Making Progress!
Dear Defender of Marriage,
The United States House of Representatives voted 227 to 186
today, Thursday, September 30, for the Federal Marriage Amendment
-- 61 votes short of the required two-thirds majority needed
to send the amendment on to the Senate. The House vote tally
is set out below.
With just one month to go before the election, it has been clear for weeks that -- even if the House passed the amendment -- the Senate would not be able to act before adjourning. This may be just as well, since in July the Senate did not muster enough political will to even call for a formal vote on the amendment. As a result, the amendment process must begin again in January when the 109th Congress convenes.
As with the Senate “non-action” in July, we should not look at the House vote as a defeat. While all of us wish both the House and the Senate had sent the amendment on to the states for ratification, we are making real progress:
- It is a major accomplishment to even get a constitutional amendment to a floor vote in either the House or the Senate; it simply doesn’t happen that often.
- The Senate and House debates have educated millions of Americans about the need for a constitutional amendment to protect marriage.
- By forcing our elected representatives to go on the record, we have a clearer picture regarding which politicians truly support marriage and the family.
Now is the time to do the most important work in the effort to defend marriage. Between now and Election Day, there are two clear messages that must be sent: one to federal politicians and one to state courts.
The federal message: Every American who believes that the family is the fundamental unit of society must cast their votes carefully and wisely. The 109th Congress must be sent to Washington with the clear message that marriage between a man and a woman matters.
The state message: State courts, like their federal counterparts, have been busily redefining marriage – as decisions in Hawaii, Alaska, Vermont, Massachusetts and Washington attest. Voters in Hawaii, Alaska and other states (most recently, Louisiana) have already amended their constitutions to restore marriage; a similar process is underway in Massachusetts.
On November 2, 11 more states will have marriage amendments on their ballots. Homosexual advocates (with the full support of established media outlets) are outspending marriage defenders by astonishing margins. They are making distressing progress with the flimsy claim that any protection of marriage “goes too far.” These advocates must not succeed. If your state has a marriage initiative on the ballot, please support its passage with your time, energy and money. Let your voice be heard. On November 2, these states must send the unmistakable message that it is not “going too far” to safeguard the right of children to both a father and a mother.
In the closing moments of the House debate, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay affirmed that “we will take it from here and we're going to come back and we're going to come back and we will never give up. We're going to protect marriage in this country."
He is right.
We have no other choice if we care about our children’s future.
My thanks to all of you who are doing so much to defend marriage. Now, let us renew our efforts in this most valiant of all good fights.
Sincerely,
Richard G Wilkins
Chairman
FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 484
(Republicans in roman; Democrats in italic; Independents underlined)
H J RES 106 2/3 YEA-AND-NAY 30-Sep-2004 5:25
PM
QUESTION: On Passage
BILL TITLE: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution
of the United States relating to marriage
| Yeas | Nays | PRES | NV | |
| Republican | 191 | 27 | 9 | |
| Democratic | 36 | 158 | 11 | |
| Independent | 1 | |||
| TOTALS | 227 | 186 | 20 |
---- YEAS 227 ---
| Aderholt Akin Alexander Bachus Baker Ballenger Barrett (SC) Bartlett (MD) Barton (TX) Beauprez Berry Bilirakis Bishop (GA) Bishop (UT) Blackburn Blunt Boehner Bonilla Bonner Boozman Boucher Boyd Bradley (NH) Brady (TX) Brown (SC) Brown-Waite, Ginny Burgess Burns Burr Burton (IN) Buyer Calvert Camp Cantor Capito Carson (OK) Carter Chabot Chandler Chocola Coble Cole Collins Cooper Costello Cramer Crane Crenshaw Cubin Culberson Cunningham Davis (AL) Davis (TN) Davis, Jo Ann Davis, Tom Deal (GA) DeLay |
DeMint Doolittle Duncan Edwards Ehlers Emerson English Etheridge Everett Feeney Ferguson Flake Forbes Ford Fossella Franks (AZ) Gallegly Garrett (NJ) Gillmor Gingrey Goode Goodlatte Gordon Granger Graves Green (WI) Gutknecht Hall Harris Hart Hastert Hastings (WA) Hayes Hayworth Hefley Hensarling Herger Herseth Hoekstra Holden Hulshof Hyde Isakson Issa Istook Jefferson Jenkins John Johnson (IL) Johnson, Sam Jones (NC) Keller Kelly Kennedy (MN) King (IA) King (NY) Kingston |
Kline LaHood Lampson Latham LaTourette Lewis (CA) Lewis (KY) Linder LoBiondo Lucas (KY) Lucas (OK) Manzullo Marshall Matheson McCotter McCrery McHugh McIntyre McKeon Mica Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Miller, Gary Moran (KS) Murphy Musgrave Myrick Neugebauer Ney Northup Norwood Nunes Nussle Ortiz Osborne Otter Oxley Pearce Pence Peterson (MN) Peterson (PA) Petri Pickering Pitts Platts Pombo Porter Portman Putnam Quinn Radanovich Rahall Ramstad Regula Rehberg Renzi Reynolds |
Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Ross Royce Ryan (WI) Ryun (KS) Sandlin Saxton Schrock Scott (GA) Sensenbrenner Sessions Shadegg Shaw Sherwood Shimkus Shuster Simpson Skelton Smith (MI) Smith (NJ) Smith (TX) Souder Spratt Stearns Stenholm Sullivan Tancredo Tanner Taylor (MS) Taylor (NC) Terry Thomas Thompson (MS) Thornberry Tiahrt Tiberi Toomey Turner (OH) Upton Vitter Walden (OR) Walsh Wamp Weldon (FL) Weldon (PA) Weller Whitfield Wicker Wilson (NM) Wilson (SC) Wolf Young (AK) Young (FL) |
---- NAYS 186 ---
| Abercrombie Ackerman Allen Andrews Baca Baird Baldwin Bass Becerra Bell Berkley Berman Biggert Bishop (NY) Blumenauer Bono Boswell Brady (PA) Brown (OH) Butterfield Capps Capuano Cardin Cardoza Carson (IN) Case Castle Clay Clyburn Conyers Cox Crowley Cummings Davis (CA) Davis (FL) DeFazio DeGette Delahunt DeLauro Deutsch Dicks Dingell Doggett Dooley (CA) Doyle Dreier Emanuel |
Engel Eshoo Evans Farr Fattah Filner Foley Frank (MA) Frelinghuysen Frost Gephardt Gerlach Gibbons Gilchrest Gonzalez Green (TX) Greenwood Grijalva Gutierrez Hill Hinchey Hinojosa Hobson Hoeffel Holt Honda Hooley (OR) Hostettler Houghton Hoyer Inslee Israel Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Johnson (CT) Johnson, E. B. Jones (OH) Kanjorski Kaptur Kennedy (RI) Kildee Kilpatrick Kind Kirk Kleczka Knollenberg Kolbe |
Kucinich Langevin Lantos Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Leach Lee Levin Lewis (GA) Lipinski Lofgren Lowey Lynch Majette Maloney Markey Matsui McCarthy (MO) McCarthy (NY) McCollum McDermott McGovern McInnis McNulty Meehan Michaud Millender-McDonald Miller (NC) Miller, George Mollohan Moore Moran (VA) Nadler Napolitano Neal (MA) Obey Olver Ose Owens Pallone Pascrell Pastor Paul Payne Pelosi Pomeroy Price (NC) |
Pryce (OH) Rodriguez Rothman Roybal-Allard Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (OH) Sabo Sánchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sanders Schakowsky Schiff Scott (VA) Serrano Shays Sherman Simmons Slaughter Smith (WA) Snyder Solis Stark Strickland Stupak Sweeney Tauscher Thompson (CA) Tierney Towns Turner (TX) Udall (CO) Udall (NM) Van Hollen Velázquez Visclosky Waters Watson Watt Waxman Weiner Wexler Woolsey Wu Wynn |
---- NOT VOTING 20 ---
| Boehlert Brown, Corrine Cannon Davis (IL) Diaz-Balart, L. |
Diaz-Balart, M. Dunn Harman Hastings (FL) Hunter |
Meek (FL) Meeks (NY) Menendez Murtha Nethercutt |
Oberstar Rangel Reyes Ros-Lehtinen Tauzin |
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