Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Marriage Equality Legislation

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on marriage equality. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:

Negotiators have been meeting practically every single day, Senate negotiators – Democrat and Republican – have been meeting practically every single day this week to find a path forward. There will be a meeting later today between both sides and I look forward to seeing what progress Republicans make to reach the magic number of ten.

The onus is right now on our Republican colleagues to demonstrate they’re serious about passing marriage equality into law. Every single Democrat is for it, but of course we need 60 votes. Let me be clear: my number one priority is to pass legislation.

It’s an issue that will have profound consequences for millions of Americans in same-sex marriages and who identify as LGBTQ. To downplay this issue, to let it pass by, or to act as if we can put it off for another time is not the right thing to do. We should do it now. That’s why we’re so eager to get ten Republicans to support the bill. And across the street from here, Justice Clarence Thomas and his fellow MAGA Republican Justices are surely waiting for the chance to one day follow through on his threat, Justice Thomas’s threat, to drag same-sex marriage rights back under the spotlight of the Supreme Court. That thought should send a shiver down all of our spines.

So I want to thank my colleagues, from Senators Baldwin to Sinema to Collins and others, for continuing their talks. I’m glad to give them the space to lead these negotiations because this needs to be done, and done right.

But for the sake of tens of millions of Americans, we need to get this done and I hope we have ten Republicans who are willing to raise their hands and push this process forward.

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