WASHINGTON – A proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage fared better in the House of Representatives on Thursday than it did in the Senate in July, but still fell far short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

After more than three hours of often passionate debate, the House voted, 227-186, for an amendment that would define marriage as only between one man and one woman. It needed 276 votes to pass.

The measure failed to win even a majority in the Senate, which defeated it, 50-48, on a procedural vote July 14. Two-thirds of both houses of Congress and then 38 state legislatures must approve an amendment before it becomes part of the Constitution.

Amendment supporters knew they did not have the votes to pass it. But with pressure from conservative groups outraged by same-sex marriages in Massachusetts and earlier this year in San Francisco, supporters said they wanted to put lawmakers on the record.

“Everybody in this country’s going to know how you voted today,” House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas told his colleagues after he took the unusual step of managing the Republican side of the debate on the House floor. “We will take it from here and we’re going to come back and we’re going to come back and we will never give up. We’re going to protect marriage in this country.”

Amendment supporters said that “traditional marriage” was under assault from “activist judges.” Allowing same-sex unions goes against the wishes of a majority of Americans and would lead to fewer marriages and more children born out of wedlock, they said.

Democrats argued states are dealing with the issue and an amendment was unnecessary. They warned that the amendment would also prohibit civil unions. And they accused Republicans of holding the vote to inflame voters over a divisive issue a month before the Nov. 2 election, while delaying action on more pressing matters.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and other opponents noted that the House had passed only one of 13 bills needed to fund the federal government as a new fiscal year begins Oct. 1 and still had not acted on the recommendations of the commission that investigated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“The Republicans control the White House. They control the House of Representatives. They control the Senate. They control everything in Washington,” Lofgren said. “But despite all these advantages, all of this power, they have no accomplishments. All they can do is play political games to hide their truly abysmal record.”

Overall, 36 Democrats joined 191 Republicans in backing the amendment, while 27 Republicans and one independent joined 158 Democrats in opposing it.

Some notable Republicans who opposed the amendment were Rep. Jim Kolbe of Arizona, who is gay; two Californians who are in the GOP leadership, Reps. David Drier and Chris Cox; and Reps. Doug Ose and Mary Bono, both of California.

Supporters said they were forced into action by February’s decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court that a ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. Shortly after, President Bush called on Congress to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Massachusetts began the marriages in May.

“I wish traditional marriage was not under attack but it is,” said Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., the amendment’s chief sponsor. “Like it or not, the courts have thrust this burden on us and we must not fail to shoulder it.”

But Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who is gay, said the experience so far in Massachusetts proved that same-sex marriage is no threat to the institution.

“How does it hurt you if we share in it?” he said. “Why do you change my love into a weapon?”

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AP-NY-09-30-04 2039EDT