House Endorses Homosexuality, “Relatively” Speaking

The latest news on congressional trips shows that congress is headed in the wrong direction. Although it didn’t make headlines, Democrats quietly changed the rules on their travel perks. The definition of people who accompany Hill members and staff on trips has been expanded from “child” or “spouse” to any “relative”—including same-sex partners. Under the new guidelines, the federal government is recognizing—and taxpayers are subsidizing—homosexual couples. And, as one attorney said, “[The House doesn’t] currently define ‘relative,’ so they could just say our interpretation includes domestic partners.” Since the rules don’t need to be approved by anyone but the ethics committee, there’s little or no accountability. Unfortunately, any questions are handled on a case-by-case basis by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But just because these leaders write the law doesn’t mean they’re above it. And the Defense of Marriage Act, passed by congress in 1996, makes it clear that the government can’t recognize same-sex marriage. If the new majority continues to travel down this path, there’s little doubt that come next election, they’ll have plenty of political baggage.

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