[Active-l] (ACTION ITEM) Write Senators: OPPOSE anti-marriage "Marriage Protection Amendment"

[Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)]

	Focus on the Family is pushing action items about the next run on 
amending the Constitution to ban marriage for GBLT people and at very 
least restrict and/or attack civil unions. The specific goal is to 
write inequality into the Federal Constitution. I urge you to write in 
opposing this amendment. Here's the latest FotF hater mail on the 
topic.

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D-DAY FOR MARRIAGE PROTECTION SCHEDULED IN SENATE
The battle is on to amend the U.S. Constitution.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
February 13, 2006
by Pete Winn, associate editor

http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039519.cfm

The U.S. Senate is slated to take up the Marriage
Protection Amendment (MPA) on June 5, and pro-family
leaders say it's time for prayer and action.

The amendment would constitutionally define marriage as
the union of one man and one woman.

Until last Friday, when Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist,
R-Tenn., announced he had scheduled a vote, there had been
almost nothing but silence on the subject since 2004 --
the last time it came up for Senate action.

Now the MPA is back on the front burner.

"The first major hurdle will be the cloture vote to end
debate," said Amanda Banks, federal issues analyst for
Focus on the Family Action.

Shutting off debate, which is important for most bills, is
crucial for the MPA, Banks said. It will take 60 votes out
of 100 to bring the issue to the Senate floor.

"Last time, the cloture vote was all we had," she said.
"We actually didn’t have an up-or-down vote in the Senate
because we did not reach that 60-vote threshold -- the
vote was 48-50, with two senators not voting."

Banks said she believes there are at least five more votes
in favor of cloture, bringing the number of supporters to
at least 53. That change is due to the 2004 election --
when the Senate saw a net gain of five conservative seats.

"We still need seven more votes," she said. "It's
important for everyone to contact their senators -- no
matter how they may have voted last time -- to let them
where the people they represent stand."

If the MPA is approved by Congress, it would then go to
the states, where it would need to be ratified by
three-fourths of the state legislatures within a specified
time period.

Matt Daniels, president of the Alliance for Marriage, says
Senate consideration of the MPA is made all the more
important at this point because two states, Washington and
New Jersey, are poised to impose gay marriage upon their
citizens by court decision.
"The Senate vote is critical to placing this issue back in
the hands of the people, where it belongs," he said.

Daniels told CitizenLink the Washington state Supreme
Court adheres to the false theory that marriage as the
union of male and female is a form of discrimination on a
par with racist bigotry.

"That's a theory that's rejected by most Americans,"
Daniels said. "It's overwhelmingly rejected by African
Americans and communities of color; nonetheless, the
courts tend to embrace that theory, and we fully expect
that the Washington court will follow in the footsteps of
Massachusetts."

If that happens, Daniels said the fallout will have "broad
repercussions for America," since Washington state does
not require residency for a marriage license.

The New Jersey State Supreme Court, meanwhile, will hear
arguments this week on whether the state's current law
protecting the definition of marriage violates the Garden
State's constitution.

"We've got to pray that this makes a difference to those
in the Senate," Banks said.

Indeed, prayer is not only in order, it should be the
starting point for Christians, according to Jim Weidmann,
vice chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force.

"It was Thomas Jefferson who said the thing he liked about
Christianity was that Christianity changes the heart," he
said. "So the thing we want to do is make sure that the
hearts of our legislators are aligned with God's heart,
whatever the issue is. So what we want to do is pray that
God may move and use them to take a stand for his
principles -- that they are enacted and become the law of
the land."

TAKE ACTION: Please consider taking this issue before the
Lord in prayer. Then, as He directs, also consider taking
action.

As you do, keep in mind that pro-family lobbyists think
it's important to contact your state's two U.S. senators
right away to let them know how you feel about the
Marriage Protection Amendment.

Before you write them, however, please visit CitizenLink's
Marriage Protection Action Center.

http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0031537.cfm

There you can find out how your senators voted on marriage
in 2004. (Note that several who were members of the Senate
in 2004 are no longer there.)

You can also find the wording of the amendment, a
Frequently Asked Questions list explaining why MPA is
needed and other information.