PROTECT MARRIAGE

By an overwhelming vote of 342-67, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Defense of Marriage Act, underlining federal refusal to recognize same-sex marriages.

The measure awaits Senate approval (expected prior to adjournment next month), before going to President Clinton, who has said he will sign it into law.

Lopsided approval at the federal level mirrors legislative action at the state level in Missouri, along with more than a dozen other states. Gov. Mel Carnahan signed the Missouri version without fanfare a couple of weeks ago.

It is regrettable that the state of today's culture requires this to be a legislative priority. The issue arises out of Hawaii, where the state's supreme court appears on the verge of recognizing same-sex marriages. Under the "full faith and credit" clause of the U.S. Constitution, all other states are required to recognize the legal acts -- marriages, divorces, adoptions -- of other states. Hawaii's action could, overnight, force the issue on the other 49 states. Hence the need for the peoples' elected representatives, at both the state and federal level, to express the deliberate sense of those people that marriage is a legal institution, sanctioned by the state, embodying a contract between a man and a woman.

Poll after poll shows overwhelming support for such legislation. The U.S. Senate should act without delay to approve it.