Although he originally voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley celebrated the Supreme Court ruling that overturns denying federal benefits for same-sex couples.
“Obviously I think it’s a very, very good ruling by the court,” Foley told The Palm Beach Post. “It’s one of the votes I wrestled with at the time. That was a tough vote … a real gut-wrenching vote”
The Republican from West Palm Beach was in the bipartisan majority when DOMA passed the House in July 1996 with a 342-67 vote. The Senate approved DOMA two months later with an 85-14 vote. President Bill Clinton signed it into law.
Foley, who came out as gay, resigned from Congress in 2006 because of a scandal over sexually explicit Internet messages to congressional pages.
“The idea was to let the states make the decision,” Foley told reporters. “Regrettably, we didn’t come up with a proper way to deal with the benefits.”
