WASHINGTON – Lead Congressional co-sponsors of the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) have abysmal voting records on issues important to the African-American community, according to a report released today by the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC).
“It’s no surprise that members of Congress who are trying to write discrimination into the Constitution have the worst civil rights records in Congress,” said Keith Boykin, NBJC president. “Members of Congress supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment are no friends of fairness.”
The nine lead Senate co-sponsors of the FMA (S.J.Res.30) have an average score of 3.4% when voting on civil rights issues identified by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Voting Record and an average of 6.4% on civil rights votes from the NAACP Legislative Report Card. The lead Senate co-sponsors are Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO); Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS); Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY); Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK); Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS); Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA); Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA); Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL); and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL).
The five original co-sponsors in the House of Representatives have similarly poor civil rights voting records, according to the report. On average, they score 29.7% on the LCCR Voting Record and 45% on the NAACP Report Card. The original House co-sponsors are Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-4-CO); Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-7-NC); Rep. Collin Peterson (D-7-MN); Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-1-VA); Rep. David Vitter (R-1-LA); Rep. Ralph Hall (D-4-TX).
“Whether or not you support same sex marriage, there is still a separation of church and state in this country and the Constitution is in place to protect that distinction,” added Boykin. “The Constitution should not be undermined with an amendment as divisive and unnecessary as the Federal Marriage Amendment. Political and religious leaders must bring the communities of this country together as a nation, not tear us apart.”
"We are all equal in God's eyes," said Dr. Sylvia Rhue, a religious scholar and NBJC Board member." Our opponents continue to cynically suggest that gay and lesbian couples seeking equal treatment and fairness are somehow belittling the cause of freedom and racial justice," Rhue continued, "nothing could be further from the truth. As a minority, lesbians and gay men understand all too well the significance of the achievements of the civil rights and racial justice struggles and the suffering and injustices that spurred those brave individuals to action. Yet there is unfinished business in our nation's effort to live up to the promise of justice for all. Our efforts are about honoring that legacy of activism and action."
NBJC is an ad hoc coalition of black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered leaders who have come together to fight against discrimination. The goal of the organization in 2004 is to build black support for marriage equality and to educate the community on the dangers of the proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to discriminate against gays and lesbians.
A complete copy of the voting records of the FMA’s lead sponsors is available at: http://www.nbjcoalition.org/info/nbjcreport.html.
Posted by Keith Boykin on May 17, 2004 at 12:01 AM
