(CNSNews.com) – With the Capitol dome as a backdrop, Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., and a large group of pastors in town for a national conference, joined House Republicans for a press conference Thursday to announce legislation in opposition to the recent decision by the D.C. City Council to recognize same-sex marriages from states where the practice is legal.
The D.C. Defense of Marriage Act, co-sponsored by Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Dan Boren (D-Okla.), states “that in the District of Columbia, for all legal purposes, ‘marriage’ means the union of one man and one woman.”
“The strength of that institution ultimately decides the strength of our entire culture,” Jordan said in opening the conference, held on the steps of the Cannon House Office Building. “It is family that truly is the foundational institution of our nation, and marriage is its cornerstone.”
“This is a tremendous, momentous occasion for us,” Jackson, who also heads the High Impact Leadership Coalition, said at the conference. “In the beginning of April, I sat in the D.C. City Council chambers as I saw a tremendous travesty in terms of due process and justice in the nation.
“I saw an out-of-control city council decide that they were going to decide for the people of the District of Columbia what was right, what was marriage,” Jackson said.
“Today, a clarion call has gone forth,” Jackson said. “Today, a sound for liberty is coming forth. Today, the voices of the people of the District of Columbia are going to get an opportunity to be heard because of the action of these congressmen.”
Jackson said the battle to preserve traditional marriage is not a civil rights issue but a child issue.
“It’s not about us. It’s about the next generation,” Jackson said. “I do not want my grandchildren sitting in the classroom hearing that Heather has two mommies or that the prince and the prince grow up and marry and become the king and the king.”
The other Republicans who are supporting the legislation, which will need bipartisan support to pass in the House, are Reps. Tom Price (R-Ga.), Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), John Fleming (R-La.), Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.)
“Our role in Congress is to assist this person and other people of faith as they fight for marriage and family,” Jordan said.
Chaffetz said he thinks preserving traditional marriage is not just an issue that is important to the people who live in the District.
“I think this represents the majority viewpoint, not only here in Washington, D.C. but across the United States of America,” Chaffetz said.
Jackson said he and 100 other pastors from the D.C. area signed a petition and delivered it to Mayor Adrian Fenty and the city council asking that the same-sex marriage decision be reversed.