Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) told the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow today that the public is behind the GOP’s effort to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) because “85 percent of Americans” oppose marriage equality. Discussing a Senate bill that would repeal DOMA, Huelskamp said: “Eight-five [sic] percent of Americans say, ‘We support traditional marriage,’ and the Senate does the opposite.” Polls show that the majority of Americans support equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians and believe that DOMA should be repealed. Huelskamp did not cite which survey he was referring to. The congressman also claimed that the Obama administration was promoting a “really radical agenda,” pointing to a proposal that would have allowed Navy chaplains to perform same-sex marriages in states with marriage equality.:
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved two amendments to the Defense Appropriations Bill that affirm congressional support for traditional marriage and religious liberty. Congressman Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) offered one measure Thursday night that would prohibit the reemergence of a recently rescinded Navy directive that would allow Navy chaplains to perform same-sex "wedding" ceremonies. "We need to protect the rights of our pastors from this really radical agenda that's coming out of this White House," he contends.
The Navy chief of chaplains announced earlier this year that military chaplains who desire to perform weddings for same-sex couples would be allowed to do so following the repeal of the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell." The directive says chaplains could perform such ceremonies in states where homosexual "marriage" is legal.
Huelskamp believes President Obama continues to stand in the way of traditional marriage initiatives.
"Democrat leadership has decided to take on the Defense of Marriage Act again," he notes. "Seventy-five to 80 percent of Americans say, 'Hey, balance your budget.' The Democrats will not do that. Eight-five percent of Americans say, 'We support traditional marriage,' and the Senate does the opposite as well," the Kansas congressman laments. "So that's the latest there. The president continues to...refuse to defend DOMA, [as does] the attorney general.... We've been fighting them on that, and Congress is standing up for traditional marriage."
