Alliance for Marriage Press Conference

May 25, 2006
LBJ Room, U.S. Capitol

Senate Majority Leader Frist, and Senators Allen, Allard, and Vitter, joined with AFM Coalition leaders at a press conference in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, May 25, 2006. Dr. Matt Daniels began the conference reminding attendees, (and a full complement of American media), that the mission of the Alliance for Marriage is to ensure that more children in America are raised in a home with a mother and a father. "Marriage is what makes fatherhood more than a biological event. Marriage is the social glue that unites the two halves of the human race to share in the enterprise of parenting--increasing the chance that children will be raised with a mother and a father." said Dr. Daniels.The Marriage Protection Amendment, written and sponsored by the Alliance for Marriage, will establish a national standard for defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist then addressed the conference, announcing that Senate debate on AFM'sMarriage Protection Amendment would begin in the first week of June. Senator Frist: "Matt, congratulations for once again bringing together wonderful people from around the country who underscorethe importance of what the United States Senate is about to once again undertake. . . . The people surrounding me who represent thousands and thousands of people understand that marriage is the cornerstone of our society. This institution, more than any other, concerns the well-being of our future, of our children, of the states that my colleagues and I represent -- indeed of this country...We've got to do more than talk. We've got to do more than say "These are our beliefs." We've got to do more than say "These are the beliefs of the American people." We need to act. If not we move in the opposite direction. To allow the courts to redefine marriage is to suppress, to discount, to ignore the voices of the American people, to ignore the votes of the American people who have overwhelmingly voted to preserve marriage solely as that union between a man and a woman...So Matt, once again I thank you for your tremendous leadership. This is an issue that is important to every single American."

Senator George Allen: "I thank all of the leaders here from a diversity of religious views, a diversity of backgrounds, all coming together, recognizing that no matter one's culture there is no more important institution than that of the family and the institution of marriage as the key for the future of our country and the future of our children. I thank you all. And, Matt, thank you for putting together a great team. Unfortunately we see unelected judges usurping the right of the people to express their views and their values. Matt mentioned the case just last year in Nebraska where the people of Nebraska overwhelmingly -- over 70% -- voted to define in their constitution marriage as between a man and a woman. And an unelected federal judge -- appointed for life -- ruled that unconstitutional. So we need a constitutional amendment -- a federal marriage amendment -- to protect the will and the views and the values of the people in the states. There will be those who say this is a state's rights issue, and it is! It is protecting what we believe in our respective states.

Niger Innis, National Spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality (one of the nation's oldestcivil rights organizations) further educated the assembly, "The civil rights movement and the Alliance for Marriage have a great deal in common. Both began with a strong base in the African-American church. Our marriage laws were created to be a blessing to children -- by encouraging the formation of families where children would be raised in a home with a mother and a father. This is because children raisedby a mother and a father are less likely to drop out of school ... less likely to commit crimes ... less likely to use drugs ... and less likely to grow up poor. The dream of more children raised in a home with a mother and a father is one of the greatest unifying aspirations in our culture. It is a dream that we share as Americans. And it is this common conviction that quietly binds those of us together in the Alliance for Marriage along with millions of other Americans -- beyond race, beyond creed and most of all beyond political party.

Rabbi Abba Cohen, Director and Counsel of the Washington Office of Agudath Israel of America, explained that "It has become increasingly clear that our state laws defining marriage, and state marriage amendments like the one struck-down by a federal judge in Nebraska, face grave danger from the multiple challenges to the legal status of marriage that have been -- and will continue to be -- unleashed in both the state and federal courts. Within my own community -- the Orthodox community -- the Marriage Protection Amendment has the strong and abiding support of its rabbis, lay leadership, adherents, institutions, and major national organizations, including the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

Senator David Vitter joined in the defense of marriage: "I'm proud to join Matt and the entire Alliance for Marriage in support of theMarriage Protection Amendment and other pro-family, pro-marriage initiatives that we are pursuing in the Congress. Matt, I think your group, including the representatives here today, illustrate what a broad and deep consensus this is in the country -- that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. . . . Your group recognizes a central truth from throughout human history, that marriage is the most important social institution in human history and is the most significant factor in terms of minimizing all sorts of social ills. We go on the floor of the Senate and debate domestic problems, drug use, crime, illegitimacy, all of these things, and yet the single biggest factor in all of those problem areas is the single question: "Is there a mom and a dad at home helping bring up kids?"

Bishop Joseph Kurtz, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops reasserted the Catholic Church's continuing support for AFM's Amendment. "In September of 2003 the Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops affirmed that the Federal Marriage Amendment is consistent with the Church's teaching that marriage is exclusively the union of a man and a woman. Moreover, the bishops saw it as their duty 'to promote, preserve, and protect marriage as it is willed by God, as generations have understood and lived it, and as it has served the common good of society.' To this end, they adopted a strategy of education and advocacy about the importance of marriage and its protection." Bishop Kurtz went on to explain, "To adopt a constitutional amendment is a serious and lengthy process. It requires principled thought, pragmatic effort, and a spirit of perseverance. It is a journey that allows for consciences to be formed along the way and for people to express their convictions. My conviction is that the journey should begin. And so it is my privilege to urge passage of the Marriage Protection Amendment when it comes before the United States Senate in early June."

Rev. Sam Rodriguez, the President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference explained "For several decades, America has been wandering in a wilderness of social problems caused by family disintegration. And an overwhelming body of social science data has established that America’s greatest social problems -- violent crime, welfare dependency, and child poverty -- track more closely with family disintegration than they do with any other social variable, including race and income level. Tragically, as bad as our current situation may be, it could soon become dramatically worse. This is because the courts in America are poised to erase the legal road map for marriage and the family from American law. In fact, the weakening of the legal status of marriage in America at the hands of the courts has already begun. If allowed to continue, this revolution will deprive future generations of Americans of the legal road map that they will need to have a fighting chance of finding their way out of the social wilderness of family disintegration."

Bishop Harry Jackson, founder of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, brought focus to the conference when he explained,“Throughout America, the institution of marriage is suffering. As a leader in our nation’s religious community, I cannot sit idly by,” said Bishop Jackson. “Cross-culturally, virtually every known human society understands marriage as a union of male and female. Now is the time to educate and activate our leaders on the importance of the sanctity of marriage.”

Senator Wayne Allard summarized the good news as well as the challenge before us, "The good news is that we are continuing to see growing support for the Marriage Protection Amendment. . . . Even though we have popular support all over the United States, the one area where we continue to have grave concern is through the courts. The Amendment I am putting forward defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman, and then the second sentence limits the power of the courts. The important thing I think we need to keep in mind is that the courts are bound and determined to change what we think of as the traditional family."