C-SPAN at CAP

Washington, DC June 5,2005 At the Center for American Progress forum "Is the Federal Marriage Amendment Consistent with Federalism and Democratic Values?" was recorded and shown live on C-SPAN at 10:00 AM. I had the pleasure of sitting in on the forum. The forum was moderated by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Center for American Progress, Neera Tanden. There were four panelist involved in the forum. Dale Carpenter Associate Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School and author of the new Cato study, "The Federal Marriage Amendment: Unnecessary, Anti-Federalist, and Anti-Democratic". Louis Michael Seidman John Carroll Research Professor of Law, Georgetown University School of Law. Mark Agrast Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress. Bruce Fein Former Associate Deputy Attorney General and General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission under President Ronald Reagan. In the forum, all of the panelists were able to provide ample information to support their point that the Federal Marriage Amendment should not be passed. I learned a lot about the new amendment that President George Bush is backing. They each stated that the passing of the amendment would prevent states from being able to ratify or condemn same-sex marriages, civil unions, etc. Each panelist was eager to speak and the audience was filled with people from various backgrounds, religions, sexual orientations, and other factors. Some of the audience members asked good solid questions that the panelist loved. The panelists were extremely kind during and after the forum.