Richard John Santorum

“ If . . . you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to do anything. ”

“ It was the same comment that was made by Justice White in the majority opinion. Let’s fast forward a few months after that, Justice Scalia in the dissenting opinion in the Lawrence v. Texas case:
State laws against bigamy, same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution, masturbation, adultery, fornication, bestiality, and obscenity are likewise sustainable only in light of Bowers’ validation of laws based on moral choices. Every single one of these laws is called into question by today’s decision; the Court makes no effort to cabin the scope of its decision to exclude them from its holding. ”

“ That, really, the issue is, as we have heard repeatedly in the Senate, we are trying to bring about a decision on marriage in this country through a democratic process.
I can’t think of anything more democratic involving more people than a constitutional amendment. It takes two-thirds of this House, two-thirds of the other House and three- quarters of the States; 38 States have to ratify this amendment. Talk about a public debate where there is huge public input across America. The constitutional amendment is the way to do it. ”

“ President, I thank and congratulate the Senator from Colorado for his terrific work on this issue, as well as the Senator from Kansas, Mr. BROWNBACK, for his great work in the committee in moving this constitutional amendment forward. This is a very difficult debate for a lot of people. It is very hard, sort of sad in some respects, that we are here talking about the issue of marriage, that talking about marriage is somehow a difficult debate. But it is for a lot of people. I know in many meetings of our colleagues when the issue of marriage comes up, heads drop. ”

“ It is the most democratic way of making a decision on anything in this country. We thought it would be a good juxtaposition to see further court erosion, further decisions made by courts to erode the public’s will on the issue of marriage. I say the ‘‘public’s will’’ only because we have 19 States and many others that have said what there really is with respect to marriage. ”

“ If marriage is not about one man and one woman for the purpose of a relationship of which to have children and continue society, if it is about two women and two men or two women and three men, why not whatever arrangement? ”

“ The logical consequence to the Lawrence v. Texas case is the next case, not a Supreme Court case before the U.S. Supreme Court but before involving Massachusetts. What Massachusetts did was the logical thing from Lawrence v. Texas. In fact, they cite Lawrence v. Texas 5 times in the main opinion and 11 times in the combined majority opinions. It is the basis upon which they build their decision. Because unlike the majority opinion in Lawrence v. Texas which says this has nothing to do with marriage, it had everything to do with marriage. ”

“ There is certainly little to argue that that is not true. It is true, marriage is in trouble. But I agree with him by saying just because something is in trouble doesn’t mean you need to get rid of it altogether. ”

“ We had a Nebraska decision which has been talked about where a Federal court overturned the State constitutional amendment in the State of Nebraska. There was a case in Washington State. Washington State is an interesting State because, unlike Massachusetts, there is no residency requirement for marriage. Any couple from anywhere in the country can go to Washington and get married if the Supreme Court of Washington were to overturn their statute. ”

“ I know the Senator from Kansas had some charts up of how children in two- parent families don’t end up in poverty as much, do better in school. I don’t know of a social indicator out there that doesn’t suggest that being in a married home is not more beneficial for children. That is certainly not to say that children raised in single-parent homes can’t and don’t do well. Most do. But the point is, society should be advocating for what is best for children and should set a standard for what is best. ”

“ And if respondent’s submission is limited to the voluntary sexual conduct between consenting adults, it would be difficult, except by fiat, to limit the claimed right to homosexual conduct while leaving exposed to prosecution adultery, incest, and other sexual crimes even though they are committed in the home. ”

“ We know what is best. We know it intrinsically, but we have supporting evidence as to what is best for children— less substance abuse, less abuse or neglect, less criminal activity, less early sexual activity, fewer out-of-wedlock births, fewer behavioral problems. ”

“ This limit of consensual sexual activity being a constitutional right which was made by the litigants, saying we have the right as individual adults under the Constitution to any kind of sexual behavior that we desire and the State cannot limit us. ”

“ When they came into place, they said children will be helped by this. There will be fewer unhappy homes. I don’t think there is a whole lot of evidence out there that would suggest children have been helped by the rapid increase in divorce. ”