Dick Cheney

Despite his personal view, he added, President George W. Bush is his boss, and Bush favors an amendment to the Constitution banning such marriages. "The president makes policy for the administration," Cheney said.

The vice president's comments came in response to a question during an invitation-only town hall meeting in Davenport, Iowa. Cheney's remarks were his first this year on the gay marriage issue while campaigning.

Religious conservatives, a key part of the Republican coalition, strongly support a federal ban on same-sex marriage. But recent Senate debate on the issue showed that it is a divisive subject among Republican lawmakers. And Cheney's view represents a rare break by him from the party's conservative base.

The Japan Times Weekly: Sept. 4, 2004
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