The Family Research Council (FRC)
supports House Speaker John Boehner's decision to defend the Defense
of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court.
Boehner
on Friday announced the creation of a five-member panel to consider
whether to instruct the House's nonpartisan Office of the General
Counsel to defend the law after President Barack Obama announced
the Department of Justice would no longer defend the law because he
believed parts of it are unconstitutional. DOMA bans federal
agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian
couples and allows states to ignore such marriages from out of state.
“We commend Speaker Boehner and
Majority Leader Eric Cantor for intervening to defend DOMA,” FRC
President Tony Perkins said in a statement. “A forceful
intervention is a necessary response that will limit the dangerous
precedent set by President Obama's refusal to defend DOMA.”
Perkins suggested the Department of
Justice had only halfheartedly defended the law.
“We are optimistic that DOMA will now
receive a vigorous legal defense. Until now, this statute, passed by
overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate and signed into law
by President Clinton, has only received an anemic defense by the
Obama Justice Department. That falls short of the vigorous and
intelligent effort that the federal definition of marriage and
American families deserve.”
Gay
GOP group Log Cabin Republicans also cheered Boehner's move. But
six House Democrats, including its four openly gay members, on Friday
released a statement in support of the president's decision.