A constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage was defeated in the U.S. Senate on a procedural vote. The Senate voted 49-48 on Wednesday against bringing the federal marriage amendment to the floor for debate. Had it come to the floor, the amendment would have needed a two-thirds vote, something all sides believed close to impossible to achieve.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.