John McCain is Wrong on Marriage Amendment

Arizona Senator John McCain has broken away from the GOP leadership and President Bush by stating,

"The constitutional amendment we're debating today strikes me as antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans," McCain said. "It usurps from the states a fundamental authority they have always possessed and imposes a federal remedy for a problem that most states do not believe confronts them."

John McCain is wrong - the US Constitution protects the citizens from being ruled by a single branch of government. We are not creating more government involvement by amending the US Constitution in this case, we are creating less.

In order for the Constitution to be amended, it requires ratification by 3/4 of the states. This underscores, rather than usurps, the states' authority. It is also apparent most states do believe this is an issue confronting them. Most states understand the threat to their rights will come from the US Supreme Court creating a law by judicial fiat, where the states' authority will absolutely be usurped. Aside from the several states which already have definitions of marriage in their constitutions, 25 states will be debating amendments this year - and the list is growing.

But McCain argued on the Senate floor that there are "far less draconian" remedies, including the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act -- which defined marriage for purposes of federal law as a union between a man and a woman and allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other states -- and state constitutional amendments limiting marriage to heterosexual couples.

He said if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down DOMA or "state remedies to judicial activism fail," then amending the federal Constitution might be "appropriate." But he said the decision in Massachusetts to legalize same-sex marriages does "not represent a death knell to marriage."

Senator McCain, there is nothing draconian about amending the Constitution, when necessary. As you said yourself, "The founders wisely made certain that the Constitution is difficult to amend and, as a practical political matter, can't be done without overwhelming public approval. And thank God for that."

The decision in Massachusetts impacts every married person in the state. The impact will continue as schools begin teaching social studies and sex education curriculum, which include gay relationships and homosexual sex. I will suggest the first time a gay marriage breaks up, where there are children involved, in a state where gay marriage is not recognized, we'll be seeing this issue being decided in the US Supreme Court.

Allow the people to decide - not the Supreme Court.

God Bless America.