| (Washington, DC)— Congressman Dan Lungren (R-Gold River), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, today introduced the Defense of Marriage Amendment. The bill is designed to thwart efforts to undermine the sovereign right of the people of a state to defend the traditional definition of marriage.
With this bill, Congressman Lungren is fulfilling a promise he made to the people of California’s 3rd Congressional District to introduce a constitutional amendment designed to protect the sanctity of traditional marriage.
“It is increasingly apparent that marriage itself has become vulnerable to the design of judges who have seen fit to take upon themselves the authority to engage in social engineering aimed at the redefinition of this foundational societal institution,” said Congressman Lungren.
Congressman Lungren added, “The people of California spoke overwhelming in adopting Proposition 22 with 61.4 percent of the vote in the 2000 elections. To borrow from Bill Buckley, I would take the moral sentiments of the first 2,000 names in any California phone book over those of a single judge bent on imposing his morals on the people of my great state. Such judicial intolerance is an act of lawlessness and must not be allowed to stand.”
“I believe that the Defense of Marriage Amendment will erect a wall of separation between federal and state courts and the institution of marriage,” said Congressman Lungren.
Congressman Lungren’s Amendment will accomplish three specific objectives:
1. It will define marriage in the United States as a legal union of one man and one woman.
2. It will expressly prohibit the judicial power of the United States or of any state from being used to redefine marriage as anything other than a union between one man and one woman.
3. It will resolve questions relating to the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act by incorporating language which would prohibit the courts from imposing the policy of one state on other states.
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Congressman Lungren previously served in the United States Congress from 1979-1989 and served as California’s Attorney General from 1991-1999.
In addition to serving on the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman Lungren also serves on the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Budget Committee.
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