Rep. Pelath, chairman of the House Rules Committee, said SJR 7 would not get a hearing in his committee, effectively killing it. This is a continuing pattern of Speaker Bauer. Earlier this session, Chairman Pelath decided the Rules Committee would not hear the House version of the Defense of Marriage Amendment. In 2004 and 2007, Speaker Bauer also killed the amendment. The amendment had a chance this year only because in 2005, the Republicans brought it to the House floor for full discussion and a vote, and it passed overwhelmingly. Because this is the final session of the second-consecutively elected General Assembly, as called for by the constitutional process, legislators - Democrats as well as Republicans - and Hoosiers hoped for the honesty of a hearing on SJR 7, but Speaker Bauer would not allow that. What is Speaker Bauer scared of? That, given the opportunity, the people of Indiana might announce their morals and beliefs are not in line with those of Speaker Bauer? Members of Bauer's Majority party support the Defense of Marriage Amendment. It passed the Senate with bipartisan support, and it would have passed the House - again - with bipartisan support. But Speaker Bauer would not give it a chance. Speaker Bauer cited a state law that already bans same-sex marriage. But that law is part of the Indiana Code, and so it remains a law that activist judges, bending to the wind of loudly vocal opinion and pressure, or a rampaging, misguided legislative majority can too easily change or demolish. The sanctity of marriage, which millions of Hoosiers believe in, deserves more protection than that. It deserves the permanence afforded by a constitutional amendment. From the beginning of recorded time, the marriage of a man and a woman has been honored around the world by diverse cultures and religious faiths. The idea of marriage does not belong to one speaker, one party, one faith or one culture. It is an enduring institution that has a well-documented history of stabilizing society and, in the collaboration of love, commitment and devotion, promoting better lives for children. Part of the amendment process is full discussion in the General Assembly, the opportunity for all sides to be heard and debated with dignity and clarity. That happened in 2005, when the Republican majority allowed the resolution to come to the floor for debate and a vote. When that happened, the resolution passed, overwhelmingly and with bipartisan support. After Rep. Pelath's prior decision to not hear the marriage amendment, 55 representatives signed a petition asking Speaker Bauer and Rep. Pelath to give the opportunity for SJR 7 to be heard in committee and voted on in the General Assembly. This may be the first time that both sides of the legislative body have requested to listen to a measure that was not allowed to be heard. The resolution will have to be discussed in committee and have a report adopted by Feb. 21. It will then have to be passed out of the House by Feb. 27 to give Hoosiers the ability to vote on the amendment in November 2008. The decision of Speaker Bauer may keep the 100 House members from such an open discussion and vote. If the full House is denied that opportunity, millions of Hoosiers also are denied the chance to vote on an issue that is fundamental and deeply important to them. They, too, will be short-changed by Speaker Bauer's short-sighted decision and will not be able to strengthen the definition of marriage in Indiana. Rep. Jim Buck (R-Kokomo) is assistant chairman of the House Republican caucus. |
