Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, penned an op-ed that dominated Tuesday's Wall Street Journal editorial page. And guess what, it was titled "The Marriage Amendment Is a Terrible Idea."
Cox is no supporter of same-sex marriage, mind you, and he
blasts as "judicial arrogance" the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
Court ruling earlier this year ordering the state to recognize gay
marriages, but he then calls the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA)
an assault on the tradition of federalism:
The Supreme Court has frequently opined that the regulation of domestic relations "has long been regarded as a virtually exclusive province of the states." That would change. Not only same-sex marriage and family law in general, but other areas could move into the federal judicial sphere.... Restraint in the allocation of governmental authority to the national government from the states is fundamental to our Constitution.... [W]hen it is not warranted, neither should we succumb to the temptation to federalize what the states have handled will for centuries.
Cox also notes that, "Like the Balanced Budget Amendment..., the
FMA is more symbol than substance, given the near impossibility of
a two-thirds vote. But unlike a requirement to balance the budget,
the FMA would do more harm than good were it to be enshrined in our
charter." Clearly.