Family Advocates to Bush: Don't Relegate Marriage to Back Burner
by Jenni Parker and Chad Groening
January 26, 2005
(AgapePress) - A coalition of pro-family groups has sent a letter to presidential aide Karl Rove, expressing concern about the lack of interest President George W. Bush has shown in pushing for a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage.The Arlington Group is comprised of members representing 45 major pro-family organizations, including such well-known activist and advocacy groups as Focus on the Family, American Values, the Family Research Council, and the American Family Association. Since the 2004 presidential election, these organizations have been watching the White House closely for signs of commitment to the pro-family causes, and several have begun wondering why the president is not showing the same degree of support for biblical marriage that he is showing for Social Security reform.
According to a recent Associated Press report, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan claims enacting a federal constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is still a "high priority" for Bush. McClellan says the president remains committed to the issue and will "continue speaking out about the importance of protecting the sanctity of marriage and moving forward on a constitutional amendment." However, religious conservatives were dismayed by comments Bush made recently in a Washington Post interview, stating that the necessary votes for a Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) simply are not to be found in the Senate.
Some in Congress appear to believe otherwise. When the Senate marked the start of a new session yesterday by releasing the traditional list of the "Top Ten" legislative issues, pro-family causes figured largely among them; and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who presented the list, highlighted Senate Joint Resolution No. 1, the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA). In his presentation, Frist drew a clear distinction between himself and the White House, pointing out the significance of making the proposed amendment "S.J. Res. No 1." He said in so doing, the Senate sponsors and supporters of the legislation have shown that "we will continue to defend marriage against activist judges" and "protect the family as the cornerstone of a healthy society."
The senator added that "marriage should remain the union of a man and a woman," because children "do best" with a mother and a father. "I am hopeful," Frist said, "that S.J. Res. 1 will actually pass the 109th Congress and be sent to the states for ratification." Frist's words of optimism and commitment are just the kind of statement many pro-family leaders have been waiting to hear from the Bush administration.
Pro-Family Leaders' Letter to the White House
Dr. Donald Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association, believes many conservatives are getting tired of waiting. He says groups like his are not seeing any evidence that the FMA is still high on the president's agenda, and their frustration is mounting.
Wildmon says while Bush is making a strong push for Social Security reform, apparently "he's unwilling at this point in time to spend any capital on the social issues, primarily the marriage amendment, and this really disturbs us." That is why the AFA founder has joined nearly four dozen other pro-family leaders in sending a letter of concern to Bush's counsel, Karl Rove, over the president's apparent lack of enthusiasm in the fight for a constitutional amendment protecting traditional marriage. The letter contains a strongly worded expression of disappointment in what it describes as the "defeatist position" Bush has demonstrated recently in addressing the issue.
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Dr. Don Wildmon |
The Arlington Group signatories opened the January 18 letter by saying they and other pro-family leaders across the U.S. were encouraged to observe and celebrate Bush's inauguration and cherished high hopes for his "historic opportunity to strengthen our nation, our families, and to provide security for our children." But then, they went on to express discouragement over the president's recent comments to the Post, in which he blamed Senate resistance for the stalled prospects of the FMA and "declined to answer a simple question about whether he would use his bully pulpit to overcome this Senate foot dragging." And all this, the letter adds, comes on the heels of another interview, a few weeks earlier, in which the President "appeared to endorse civil unions."The letter also pointed out the marked contrast between the administration's apparent lack of passion in pushing the FMA and its current emphasis on Social Security reform. The authors of the communication observed that the Bush administration's attitude about the marriage issue has a direct effect on the ability of pro-family groups to unite and motivate their grassroots constituents to support other administration initiatives.
The Arlington Group ended the letter with a challenge to the White House to "correct the impression that your strategy is passivity in the fight to preserve marriage." The letter requests that Bush invest more political capital in the effort to protect marriage and that a top-level administration official be designated to coordinate the effort. "When it comes to the social security of our culture and our children," the letter states, "nothing is more urgent than stopping the activist courts, which are trying to redefine marriage."
Values Voters Want Something to Show for Their Support
The media and other analysts have acknowledged the role of U.S. religious conservative and pro-family organizations in getting Republican officials elected in recent years. But so far, AFA's Wildmon says, these groups' efforts in mobilizing the nation's "values voters" have gone largely without reward. "For many years now, we've been supporting Republican conservatives and helping get them elected," he asserts, "and we have precious little, if anything, to show for it. It's as if we're important at election time, but the rest of the four years, [the conservative politicians] just don't bother to come around."
But now that George W. Bush has won a second term in the Oval Office, Wildmon says he has no good reason not to uphold and emphasize pro-family causes. "We feel our issues are important," the activist says, "and we feel the president should get behind the Federal Marriage Amendment -- because he says he favors it -- and spend some real capital on it."
It is in Bush's best interests to do this, Wildmon contends, since leaders in the Arlington Group may have difficulty getting their people to stand with the president in his campaign to privatize Social Security unless they see some reassuring gesture from him on the marriage issue. "I think it'll be very hard for us to rally our troops in support of Social Security changes if there's not a similar effort made on the marriage amendment," the AFA chairman says.
