Washington, D.C. - Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe issues the following statement:

"On October 3, 2003, President Bush, facing the reality that increasingly fewer Americans think he should be re-elected, and at the direction of ultra-conservative organizations, declared the week of October 12-18 `Marriage Protection Week.’ In a desperate move to attract the right-wing base of his party, Bush has again aligned himself with the Rev. Jerry Falwell and right-wing organizations such as the Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council. These groups, who have formed ‘The Coalition to Protect Marriage,’ last week declared that with Bush’s support they would begin lobbying all members of Congress for the passage of the anti-gay ‘Federal Marriage Amendment.’

"The DNC has already declared its opposition to this amendment, which legal experts from both ends of the political spectrum have acknowledged would be used to repeal hundreds of laws enacted by state legislatures to provide basic benefits and rights to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) Americans. According to a recent ABC News Poll, only 20% of Americans favor this anti-gay amendment. Even Vice President Dick Cheney, former conservative Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), and former Republican Senator Alan Simpson (WY) believe that the issue of civil marriage equality is one for the states. The President’s position and the Republican National Committee’s plan to place in its official party platform the language of this anti-gay amendment shows that the Republican party is again moving further outside of the mainstream. We can only assume given the President’s support for this divisive measure and his otherwise poor record on GLBT issues, that he and his Party are indeed uninterested in demonstrating compassion toward GLBT Americans."