[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 27, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1343-E1344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  FLAG AMENDMENT IS THE PEOPLE'S WILL

                                 ______


                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 27, 1995
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw your attention to the 
comments of one of our colleagues in the House, the gentleman from 
Louisiana, Mr. Jefferson. His column entitled, ``Flag Amendment Is the 
People's Will'' was published in the recent edition of the American 
Legion Magazine in support of the constitutional amendment protecting 
our flag. As you know, Mr. Speaker, this constitutional amendment will 
be coming before us on the floor this Wednesday, June 28. I would ask 
all my fellow Members to heed Mr. Jefferson's sound advice and keep 
faith with the American people by supporting this constitutional 
amendment and sending it to the States and the people for ratification.
                       [From the American Legion]

                  Flag Amendment Is the People's Will

                 (By Representative William Jefferson)

       In April, a proposed constitutional amendment that would 
     permit the individual states to enact legislation banning 
     physical desecration of the flag was introduced in the 
     Congress.
       After much careful deliberation, I became an original 
     cosponsor of the amendment. My decision came not without 
     considerable anguish, particularly over the principle of 
     amending the Constitution.
       In the final analysis, however, it came down to this: If we 
     are not willing to stand up for our flag, what will we stand 
     up for?
       To those who say this is a First Amendment issue--an issue 
     of free speech--let me remind them that there are several 
     restrictions and limits on speech already. One cannot libel 
     or slander another without fear of 

[[Page E 1344]]
     legal retribution. One cannot advocate the assassination of the 
     President without the Secret Service becoming extremely 
     interested in his or her speech. As Supreme Court Justice 
     Felix Frankfurter pointed out so eloquently many years ago, 
     our right to free speech does not extend to yelling ``Fire!'' 
     in a crowded theater. No, this is not a free speech issue. 
     Rather, it is a matter of personal responsibility.
       Surely, desecrating a U.S. Flag--burning a flag--is 
     abhorred by society, and our society has the right to demand 
     that such activity be punished. Reflecting that sentiment, my 
     home state of Louisiana in 1991 was the 21st of 49 states so 
     far to pass a resolution urging Congress to approve a flag-
     protection amendment.
       Amending the Constitution is no
        simple undertaking. The Founding Fathers intended it to be 
     that way. Two-thirds of the House (290 Members) and Senate 
     (67) must agree to pass the legislation, then three-
     fourths of the states--36--must ratify the amendment 
     within seven years.
       Throughout our history, constitutional amendments have 
     proved the only path for redress of serious societal ills in 
     our country. Women's suffrage, for example, was accomplished 
     through a constitutional amendment, as was the abolition of 
     slavery after the Civil War. The Fourteenth Amendment 
     recognized former slaves as citizens and the Fifteenth gave 
     them the right to vote. No one could deny that these 
     amendments--controversial as they were at the time--made our 
     society better.
       This proposed amendment and the need of its passage grew 
     from a 1989 Supreme Court decision, Texas v. Johnson. The 
     court narrowly ruled, 5-4, that burning an American Flag was 
     ``protected'' as free speech. The case arose following a 
     demonstration at the Republican National Convention in Dallas 
     in 1984. Gregory Johnson and a group of fellow protesters 
     burned a flag outside the convention hall as part of their 
     protest. Texas authorities convicted Johnson of flag 
     desecration under existing Texas law. The Supreme Court 
     decision overturned not only the Texas law, but also flag-
     protection statutes in 47 other states and the District of 
     Columbia.
       The American public was outraged then and continues to be 
     outraged today. Public-opinion polls show that more than 80 
     percent of all Americans favor protection of the flag. 
     Following the 1989 Supreme Court decision and a similar 5-4 
     decision in 1990 in another flag desecration case, three out 
     of four Americans believed the only way to protect the flag 
     was through a constitutional amendment.
       Nearly 40 years ago in the hot summer of 1957, Dr. Martin 
     Luther King was beginning his dream of equality for all 
     Americans. At a citizenship education program that summer, 
     King said there was glory in citizenship, and that we don't 
     want haters. Our country, he said, may not be all we want it 
     to be, but that would change.
       Respect your country; honor its flag.
       We have come a long way as a nation since 1957. Dr. King's 
     dream still lives--the American dream persists. In the words 
     of Charles Evan Hughes, the 11th Chief Justice of the U.S. 
     Supreme Court, ``This flag means more than association and 
     reward. It is the symbol of our national unity.''
       It is now our time to do our patriotic duty, to keep faith 
     with the American people who sent us to Washington. Passing 
     this flag-protection amendment adds one more strand to the 
     fabric woven by preceding generations--the fabric of freedom, 
     symbolized by our flag.
     

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