Comment Of Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.,
On President Bush’s New Push
For A Constitutional Amendment To Ban Gay Marriage
February 24, 2004

 “It is remarkable that Congress instantly seems willing to move very quickly on a marriage amendment when President Bush recommends it.  This is the same Congress, and the same Administration, that cannot find the time to have Attorney General Ashcroft subject himself to real questions and real oversight about the PATRIOT Act.  Marcelle and I have been married for 41 years, and we feel our marriage is not going to be hurt by what any state may do regarding marriage.  We do, however, fear for the privacy of our families, our fellow Vermonters and all Americans when an Attorney General has unprecedented powers to spy into people’s personal lives and knows that he does not have to answer to the Congress, the President or the American people.

“Our leaders are supposed to appeal to our hopes and aspirations, not to our biases or fears.  When compassionate conservatism bumps into the political agenda of President Bush’s right-wing base, compassion loses.  This is crass opportunism, designed to score political points in an election year at the expense of millions of Americans, and I will oppose this amendment.”

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