Representative Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) on Wednesday pledged to overturn the Supreme Court’s marriage rulings with a constitutional amendment.

The Republican congressman accused the Supreme Court of allowing “the desires of adults to trump the needs of children” by striking down a key section of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 earlier in the day.

ADVERTISEMENT

“This radical usurpation of legislative and popular authority will not end the debate over marriage in this country,” Huelskamp said. “Congress clearly must respond to these bad decisions, and as a result, I plan to introduce the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) to amend the United States Constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

The constitutional amendment would prohibit same-sex couples from marrying nationwide. Republicans had attempted to pass a similar constitutional amendment in 2006, but failed.

“Decades of research on families, combined with generations and centuries of human experience, all agree – children do best when they have a married mom and dad in the home,” Huelskamp claimed. “This ruling further undermines that ideal, causing harm to America’s children and all of society.”

Huelskamp authored the Kansas Marriage Amendment as a state senator, which banned same-sex couples from marrying or forming civil unions.