Marriage Amendment Author Says Voters Must Voice Opinion
by Bill Fancher and Jenni Parker
September 28, 2004
(AgapePress) - The U.S. House of Representatives will soon vote on the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. And in this vote, according to one Colorado conservative, the American people have a very good chance of being heard on the marriage issue.
Republican Representative Marilyn Musgrave, who wrote and introduced the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, feels strongly about the battle to protect traditional marriage and equally strongly that the American people should have a choice in the matter. Addressing the voters, she asserts, "It is clear marriage will be defined nationally in our country. It will either come from judges, without your advice and consent, or by your elected lawmakers, with your input, as intended by the founding fathers."
The Colorado congresswoman says this upcoming vote, expected on Thursday (Sept. 30), is an important chance for the people to weigh in, and she urges individuals who feel marriage should be protected to call their elected representatives right away and voice their opinions."In multiple decisions," Musgrave says, "un-elected judges have begun to alter the institution of marriage and ignore and belittle the views of the American people. The upcoming vote stands as the opportunity for your elected officials to use the appropriate legislative process to decide a national issue of this consequence."
But even as Musgrave, who is up for re-election this fall, tries to focus voters on the fight to protect traditional marriage, she herself may be under attack. According to Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Washington, DC-based Traditional Values Coalition, Musgrave is being "targeted for defeat" by millionaire homosexual activist Tim Gill and his allies, who operate a front group called Colorado Families First.
Well-Funded Homosexual Activists Attack
Gill, former chairman and founder of the publishing software company Quark, Inc., established an organization, The Gill Foundation, and through it has poured $54 million into homosexual causes over the past ten years. His contributions include major funding for the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a group that Sheldon describes as working "to recruit children into the homosexual lifestyle."
Sheldon says Gill has now dumped $1 million into attack ads against Rep. Musgrave because she authored the federal constitutional amendment that would prohibit same-sex marriages. The Traditional Values Coalition spokesman says the conservative congresswoman is "a fine Christian woman who has taken courageous stands against the homosexual agenda," and these attack ads are clearly an attempt to "mislead voters about Musgrave's pro-family, pro-life voting record in Congress."
In a recent urgent message to her constituents, Musgrave noted that she has only recently learned, in these latter days of her campaign, about the massive amount of funding Gill has dumped into the network TV attack ads against her. She suspects the liberal software mogul will spend even more to help elect her pro-homosexual marriage opponent, Democrat Stan Matsunaka. And with her Federal Election Campaign (FEC) finance report due September 30, the Republican incumbent is concerned about the pro-homosexual lobby's ability to outspend her.
In her letter, Musgrove notes, "Tom Gill and Stan Matsunaka are trying to defeat me for re-election because I have been the U.S. House leader for the Federal Marriage Amendment to protect the sacred union of marriage between one man and one woman." Later, she notes, "At times, it seems like the liberal special interest attacks are almost too much to bear."
But Musgrave is determined and has vowed to the voters that she will never give up. "Standing up for the American family and taxpayer is worth the slings and arrows of the radical liberals," she says. Nevertheless, the congresswoman adds that she will need support and pro-family citizens "cannot rest for even one second" until victory in the battle to defend traditional marriage has been achieved.
