WASHINGTON, June 5 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush called Monday for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would ban same-sex marriage.
"America is a free society which limits the role of government in the lives of our citizens," Bush told an audience of opponents of same-sex marriage at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. "In this country, people are free to choose how they live their lives. In our free society, decisions about a fundamental social institution as marriage should be made by the people."
Bush blamed "activist judges" who have overturned some of the bans adopted by states and could throw out the federal Defense of Marriage Act signed by President Bill Clinton.
The amendment is expected to come up for a vote in the U.S. Senate this week but appears unlikely to get the required two-thirds majority.
Critics suggest that Bush is pushing the issue in an effort to galvanize social conservatives in this fall's congressional races. A man described as an old friend told Newsweek that the president appears to have no strong feelings about the issue, saying "he never talks about this stuff."
