. sees ou i i Federal Marriage Amendment Dies New Danger on the Horizon ashington, DC — In a 48-50 procedural vote, a handful of Republican Senators joined most of the _ Democrats to kill the so-called Federal Marriage Amendment. Both of Vermont’s Senators, Independent James Jeffords and Democrat Patrick Leahy, voted against “cloture” which would have allowed the Senate to consid- er another version of the amend- ment. Leahy led the floor fight against the cloture motion, accord- ing to his press spokesman David Carle. Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force Chairwoman Sherry Corbin greeted the news of the vote with relief. “It’s good that at least half of the Senators have some faith in the U.S. Constitution and will not use it against one A C group of people.” She added that the vote “doesn’t change anything we’re doing in Vermont, but it is one less thing to have to fight against. Really [the amendment] was about playing political games. The real battle is local, not national. It’s about us locally changing hearts and minds.” Attorney Beth Robinson, of the Vermont Fund for Families, reached on vacation, said, “Hopefully now [the Senators] will turn their attention to helping fami- lies instead of hurting them. I’m glad to have it off the table for now.” _ Six Republicans voted against the FMA cloture motion, resulting in a dead end for the amendment: both of Maine’s Senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, New Hampshire’s John Sununu, Rhode Island’s John Chafee, Colorado’s Ben Campbell, and Arizona’s John McCain. Three Democrats voted in favor of the motion, which would have contin- ued consideration of the amend- ment, Robert Byrd (West Virginia), A Zell Miller (Georgia), and Ben Nelson (Nebraska). The two missing senators for the procedural vote were Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry of Massachusetts and his running mate, North Carolina Senator John Edwards. Leahy, speaking at a press conference after the vote, said that the Republicans’ “handling of this constitutional amendment has boiled down to pure politics, at the expense of gay and lesbian Americans and the families and friends and coworkers who care about them.” Further, he said, “We showed why a constitutional amendment is unnecessary. The Constitution does not require states ' to recognize marriages performed in other states when those mar- riages offend their public policy.” The real issue for moving Vermont toward equal marriage, Robinson said, is “the rapidity with which things unfold in other states.” Six states have marriage ' cases in their court systems, and depending on how they are decid- » ed, Vermont “will feel less like a leader.” The states she cited are California, Washington, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, and Indiana. “The case in New Jersey has been pending the longest,” Robinson said, “but the case in Oregon seems to be moving the fastest.” Oregon’s court might set- tle for a Baker-style arrangement, she opined. Such an arrangement provides full state recognition and benefits, but precludes both the Mipckei 0».-stateme_nt...' Hllflill HMJHIS social status of the term “marriage” and eligibility for over a thousand federal benefits related to marital status. Robinson is working on an amicus brief for the Oregon case. lates the separation of powers pro- visions of the United States Constitution. Christopher E. Anders, an ACLU Legislative Counsel, said, “On the very same day that the New Threat to Equal Senate voted against amending the Marriage Constitution, the House Judiciary Meanwhile, over in the House of Committee voted to violate the Representatives, the House A founding charter. Instead of playing Judiciary Committee adopted a bill politics with the private lives of (H.R. 3313) that would prevent any hard-working American families, federal court — including the Congress should focus its attention Supreme Court — from considering on the real problems facing challenges to the Defense of Americans.” Marriage Act (DOMA). The com- .5. Anders added, “This mittee reported the bill to the full court—stripping measure seeks to stop the judicial branch from doing its job and to shut the door to mar- House by a vote of 21 to 13. The vote occurred on the same day as the Senate vote that.killed the ried gay"and lesbian couples who . FMA. deserve their day in court. The The bill’s primary pur- Senate rejected the discriminatory marriage amendment, and the House should also reject these pose is “court stripping,” disallow- ing courts from pursuing a class of cases. It presupposes that constitu- stealth attempts to legislate dis- tional challenges to the federal crimination.” DOMA law, enacted in 1996 dur- The full House passed the ‘Marriage Protection Act’ 223-194 - as OIT M went to press. The Senate is not expected to take up the bill this year. V ing the Democratic Clinton Administration, might threaten to impose a nationwide interpretation of a single state’s marriage laws. There is some questions whether the federal DOMA vio- Anywhere, Anyplace, Anytime. % CHILD TRAVEL SERVICES COLCHESTER 0 SO. BURLINGTON BURLINGTON 0 ST. JOHNSBURY 1-800-203-2929 WWW.CH|LDTRAVEL.COM