Ashcroft urges Blunt to stop the Respect for Marriage Act

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Today Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft urged United States Senator Roy Blunt to use whatever means possible to stop the passage of HB 8404, S. 4556: the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA).

Ashcroft, in a letter to Senator Blunt, wrote that the RFMA, “Specifically runs afoul traditional principles of federalism,” and that it will “embolden an already weaponized U.S. Department of Justice.”

“RFMA significantly alters the balance between state and federal power,” wrote Ashcroft, “Missouri’s constitution already defines marriage; federal law need not.”

Ashcroft stated, “Missourians have overwhelmingly approved marriage as a bond between one man and one woman. Over seventy percent of Missourians amended the Missouri Constitution stipulating that “to be valid and recognized in this state, a marriage shall exist only between a man and a woman.”

He concluded the letter with a handwritten note urging Blunt to wholeheartedly represent his constituents in one of his last votes as a United States Senator. Ashcroft penned, “Please, I urge you to stand strong for Missourians.”