Bush to urge gay marriage amendment

WASHINGTON – President Bush plans to wade back into the debate over same-sex marriage for the first time in his second term beginning today with a pair of speeches pressing the Senate to approve a constitutional amendment next week defining marriage as the union of a man and woman.

Bush, whose opposition to marriage between gay partners helped power him to re-election in 2004, has remained largely silent on the issue since, much to the consternation of conservatives who complain he has not exerted leadership. Now, with midterm elections approaching, he is returning to a topic that galvanizes an important part of the Republican base.

The president intends to devote his weekly radio address today to the Federal Marriage Amendment and has invited supporters to the White House on Monday for another speech promoting it, according to aides and activists. The Senate is set to begin debating the amendment Monday and vote Wednesday, but both sides believe sponsors do not have the 67 votes it needs for approval despite Bush’s endorsement.

“His position is that he thinks people ought to have the freedom to lead their private lives,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said. “He also does not believe that that means that you have to redefine the institution of marriage.” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he decided to call for a vote on the amendment because states that banned same-sex marriage in the last 18 months are under assault in the courts. “Unelected activist judges are tearing down state laws in nine states today,” Frist said on “Fox News Sunday” last weekend.

But critics said the only reason Bush and Frist are reviving the issue is for election-year pandering to conservative voters, who, polls show, have grown disaffected with the president for various reasons.

“They understand that they are in deep trouble and they need to do anything they can to appease their people, which is the right-wing base,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization. The Federal Marriage Amendment would ban same-sex marriages, but sponsors say it would allow state legislatures to approve civil unions with similar benefits for gay couples.

A constitutional amendment requires approval of two-thirds of both houses of Congress and three-quarters of the states. The president has no formal role in the process. In 2004, a similar amendment failed in the Senate, 48 in favor and 50 opposed, and in the House, 227 to 186. Both sides believe supporters have picked up four votes in the Senate since then, which would result in a 52-vote majority, well below two-thirds.