WASHINGTON, July 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Family Research Council (FRC) Senior Vice President Tom McClusky released the following statement in response to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro declaring the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

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The Defense of Marriage Act DOMA was enacted in 1996 by an overwhelming majority of 342-67 in the House and 85-14 in the Senate and was then signed by President Bill Clinton.

"The Family Research Council is confident that today's ruling by a federal District Court judge that the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional will be overturned on appeal. The federal DOMA does not violate equal protection principles and has not interfered with Massachusetts' freedom to determine its own definition of marriage.

"In part, this decision results from the deliberately weak legal defense of DOMA that was mounted on behalf of the government by the Obama administration, which has called for repeal of the law.

"While the American people have made it unmistakably clear that they want to preserve marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman, liberals and activist judges are not content to let the people decide. We look forward to higher court review and reversal of this erroneous decision."

SOURCE Family Research Council

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