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Bush Action Alert on FMA

Call President Bush today!  Tell him not to play politics with the Constitution.  News reports indicate the President is going to hold a White House event on Monday, June 5th to push the anti-family Federal Marriage Amendment.  Please call the White House comment line now (202) 456-1111.  Tell the President he should be uniting the country, not dividing it.   

President Bush's decision to use the bully pulpit of the Presidency and the formality of a White House event to espouse an anti-family constitutional amendment is an insult to millions of gay and lesbian Americans and our families.  This amendment proposal is a direct attack on the core Republican belief in federalism.  And, it is an affront to true conservatives and traditional Republicans who have always denounced efforts to play politics with the U.S. Constitution.

There is no stronger and more powerful case against the President's attempt to write discrimination into the United States Constitution than the words of his own White House and fellow conservatives. 

The White House

	"The fact of the matter is that matter [the legal recognition of relationships] is regulated by the states.  I think different states are likely to come to different conclusions, and that's appropriate.  I don't think there should necessarily be a federal policy in this area." - Vice President Dick Cheney
	"It (the marriage amendment) is writing discrimination into the constitution and, as I say, it is fundamentally wrong.  I would also hope that no one would think about trying to amend the constitution as a political strategy." - Mary Cheney
	"I don't think (gay marriage) should be used as a campaign tool, obviously.  It requires a lot of sensitivity to just talk about the issue - a lot of sensitivity." - First Lady Laura Bush

Conservatives

	"It is said that this [amendment] is necessary to protect marriage.  Whose marriage is this going to protect?  How conceivably could it protect any marriage in the United States?  Some historian should really look at all the proposals that have been put forth throughout the history of our country for possible constitutional amendments.  Maybe at some point in time there was one that was sillier than this one, but I don't know of one." - Former U.S. Senator John Danforth (R-MO)
	Syndicated columnist George Will recently wrote that the marriage amendment would "clutter" the constitution.  He said conservative Senator John Sununu's (R-NH) vote against the amendment in 2004 "affirmed the value of federalism."
	"I believe that the people of Arizona should make the decision concerning the sanctity of heterosexual marriage and union between a man and woman.  And I believe the people of Massachusetts should make their decision, and others.  I think it's up to the states to make those decisions.  And by the way, that's the federalist approach." - U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

Take action and call the White House at (202) 456-1111.  The President's White House event is scheduled to take place on Monday, June 5th, the same day the U.S. Senate is scheduled to consider the amendment.  Click here  to send an email to your senators urging them to vote no.