With his wedding set for July, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) has a vow in place. Thanks to security concerns, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will not be there to share in the festivities.
Frank appeared on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" on Sunday, explaining how he'd love to have the Obamas attend.
"If he and his wife wanted to come, I would be delighted and honored to have them," Frank said.
But with the ceremony set to take place in his hometown of Newton, Mass., Frank was frank about the Secret Service being an unwelcome addition.
"I don't want to be accused of having shut down the entire region for a five-mile radius on a holiday weekend," he said. "I don't want my guests going through a magnetometer. I would be flattered to have the president do that, but it would ruin the party to have the Secret Service. I’m not critical of them, but they can go take their layered protection of the president somewhere else. Not to my party."
An openly gay Congressman since 1987, Frank's office announced in January that he was marrying his longtime partner, Jim Ready. The pair met in October 2005 at a fundraiser in Maine. After the death of Ready's partner in January 2007, he and Frank began their relationship.