I do not think there is any principle I have ever seen more frequently enunciated and lessfrequently followed than States' rights from the Republicans. What they mean is that the Stateswill do whatever they tell them to do. Mr. Chairman, I do not claim to be a States' rights advocate. I think there are times, given anational economy, when a national uniform solution is the only sensible one, but this is not oneof them. I want to be particularly clear now.
People talk about their marriages being threatened.
I find it implausible that two men deciding to committhemselves to each other threatens the marriage of people a couple of blocks away. I find itbizarre, even by the standards that my Republican colleagues are using for this politicalargument here, to tell me that two women falling in love in Hawaii, as far away as you can getand still be within the United States, threatens the marriage of people in other States. The Federal Government is running to the rescue. It would seem to be clear that divorce does more to dissolve marriages than gay marriages. It isextraordinary to have people talking about how marriage is in peril.