United States Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., voted against sending a proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage as union between a man and a woman to the judiciary committee and said that while he opposes the amendment, he thinks the full Senate should vote on it.

With approval from a Senate subcommittee last week, the "Marriage Protection Act" will go before the full judiciary committee, but a date has not yet been set.

"I am opposed to the amendment, but I do not think it ought to be bottled up in subcommittee or committee," Specter told reporters at a press conference. "I don't think you need to have a constitutional amendment."

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., is sponsoring the amendment in Congress, which would ban gays and lesbians from marrying.

Susan Welch, political science professor and dean of the College of the Liberal Arts, said Specter is trying "to keep in the good graces of the Republican leadership."

"It's a case of having your cake and eating it too," she said. "He says, 'I'm against it,' but he's voting for it [to go to the full Senate], so he's kind of protecting himself."

A similar amendment to the Constitution concerning gay marriage failed last year, and Welch said it would be hard to pass this amendment as well. "This sounds like something that may be very controversial, and it's probably going to be ugly," she said. "It's going to be one of those very contentious things."

Chris Tucker, spokesman for Rep. John Peterson's, R-Centre, said Peterson supports the "traditional" view of marriage.

"My understanding is the congressman has been generally supportive of those amendments, saying marriage is between a man and a woman," he said. "Marriage is an institution that has been around 2,000 years, so if we go change the definition, we probably shouldn't do it willy-nilly."

Tucker said Peterson's stance is not based on his constituents' viewpoints.

"He talks to people back home, he brings people together -- that said, he doesn't do polling back home to see what positions are popular," he said. "This is something he has a personal opinion and belief in."

Christy Merchant, treasurer of Penn State Allies, said that she disagrees with the proposed amendment, calling it absurd.

"This amendment is a violation of a person's right as an American citizen," Merchant said. "This act is a tool to limit people's rights in this country."

Allies social chairman Michael Crawford said he agrees with Merchant.

"I think it's sad they want to make an amendment," he said. "It takes the freedom away from people, and I don't think it's necessarily right for them to take somebody else's freedom away from them."