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| As he had pledged he would do, House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen attempted to move the Marriage Amendment to the House floor for debate this morning using House Rule 60. Unfortunately the effort failed 45 to 54 with one Democrat, Delores Mertz, joining all 44 Republicans. Although they will claim otherwise, this does place the House Democrats on record as blocking the Marriage Amendment for the second time. While it would be a blessing to have succeeded in this early effort, we have known from the start that this is going to be a long battle. The good news is that there is a growing grassroots effort across the state focused on making sure that Iowans have the opportunity to vote on a Marriage Amendment. At this point, we need to keep up the pressure as we begin to focus our attention on the 2010 November election when every House member, as well as many of the Senators will be up for reelection. I encourage you to call your Iowa Representative today. If he/she is a Republican, thank them for their vote this morning. If he/she is a Democrat let them know of your displeasure with their vote. (With the exception of Rep. Mertz.) An effort to bring the Marriage Amendment to the floor was also made in the Senate this morning with much the same result. All 18 Senate Republicans signed a petition, joined by 1 Democrat Senator, Tom Hancock, asking for the Marriage Amendment to move forward. They needed 26 signatures. |
