[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 10183-10184] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]REPUBLICAN MISGUIDED PRIORITIES ______ HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR. of michigan in the house of representatives Tuesday, June 6, 2006 Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Senate Republican leadership renewed debate on whether the Constitution of the United [[Page 10184]] States should limit marriage and any civil union to one man and one woman. It is distressing to me that we live in an age in which we still must fight to protect our civil rights as Americans, in which a hate crime perpetrated against someone based their sexual orientation can go unpunished, and in which discrimination is being written into our laws. If this amendment were to pass, we would rewrite discrimination into the Constitution, a practice I thought we had done away with in 1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment erased the Constitution's reference to ``the whole number of free persons.'' It appears that some would condemn us to repeating history. The only saving grace for this measure is that it is doomed to failure, and the President knows that. This amendment is being considered merely to throw red meat at conservative voters in an election year. Just over a month before the 2004 election, when his poll numbers were slipping, the President stated his support for this discriminatory measure. He knew the amendment could not pass in Congress and that there was minimal public support for it. Republicans moved this discriminatory bill for the sole purpose of dividing voters and inciting anti-gay sentiment in a hotly-contested election year. Two years later, the Republicans are drowning in corruption and losing public support on a mass scale. The White House wants to drive its conservative base to the polls and has asked the Senate Majority Leader to bring this issue before the full Senate. Make no mistake about it, we will win this fight again. Then, hopefully we can turn to the issues that the American people want the government to address. We have yet to investigate the Administration's failed policy in Iraq that has led to the deaths of over 2,000 American soldiers. We need to know why there has been a steep rise in gas prices during a time of record oil industry profits. We need to craft a prescription drug bill for seniors that works instead of keeping one that confuses seniors and rewards large pharmaceutical companies. We need to stop borrowing money from foreign countries, cease deficit spending, and return our economy to the surpluses it had under President Clinton. With so many critical issues that need the immediate attention of the Congress, Republicans need to reevaluate their priorities. It is my hope that in the coming months we can focus our energies on the many important issues facing our country rather than on divisive and unproductive distractions. ____________________