NCJW Applauds Senate Defeat of Marriage Amendment

June 7, 2006, Washington, DC -- The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) applauds the defeat of the proposed federal marriage amendment today in the US Senate. NCJW President Phyllis Snyder released the following statement:

"NCJW is heartened by today's vote in the US Senate defeating the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment. Enshrining discrimination in the Constitution -- a document intended to safeguard our rights and freedoms -- is legally dubious and morally offensive. This vote reaffirms our country's commitment to both the spirit and substance of liberty.

"The proposed amendment is wrong on several counts. It would not only set a dangerous precedent as the first instance in which the Constitution was amended to restrict the rights of a specific class of people. It would impose a single, religious definition of marriage on the whole nation, violating the separation of religion and state. And it would jeopardize existing civil unions already permitted in several states.

"NCJW is proud to stand with other faith-based groups that joined together to fight against the imposition of a single religious definition of marriage on all of us. Given the foreseeable outcome of the vote, it is hard to avoid speculation that the action itself was intended to appease the far right. All the more reason that we can celebrate the defeat of this effort as a victory for equality and religious freedom."

NCJW is a volunteer organization, inspired by Jewish values, that works to improve the quality of life for women, children, and families and to ensure individual rights and freedoms for all through its network of 90,000 members, supporters, and volunteers nationwide.

Contact:
Vanessa Schnaidt
212 645 4048 x179; vschnaidt@ncjw.org