[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 196 (Monday, December 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S18364-S18365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          AMENDMENTS SUBMITTED

                                 ______


           THE AMERICAN FLAG CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT OF 1995

                                 ______


                        BIDEN AMENDMENT NO. 3093

  Mr. BIDEN proposed an amendment to the joint resolution (S.J. Res. 
31) proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
grant Congress and the States the power to prohibit the physical 
desecration of the flag of the United States; as follows:

       Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the 
     following: That the following article is proposed as an 
     amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which 
     shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the 
     Constitution if ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths 
     of the several States within seven years after its submission 
     to the States for ratification:


                              ``article --

       ``Section 1. The Congress shall have power to enact the 
     following law:
       ```It shall be unlawful to burn, mutilate, or trample upon 
     any flag of the United States.
       ```This law does not prohibit any conduct consisting of the 
     disposal of the flag when it has become worn or soiled.'.
       ``Section 2. As used in this article, the term `flag of the 
     United States' means any 

[[Page S18365]]
     flag of the United States adopted by Congress by law, or any part 
     thereof, made of any substance, of any size, in a form that 
     is commonly displayed.
       ``Section 3. The Congress shall have the power to prescribe 
     appropriate penalties for the violation of a statute adopted 
     pursuant to section 1.''.
                                 ______


                 HATCH (AND OTHERS) AMENDMENT NO. 3094

  Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Heflin, and Mrs. Feinstein) proposed an 
amendment to the joint resolution (S.J. Res. 31) supra; as follows:

       Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the 
     following: That the following article is proposed as an 
     amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which 
     shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the 
     Constitution if ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths 
     of the several States within seven years after its submission 
     to the States for ratification:


                              ``article --

       ``The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical 
     desecration of the flag of the United States.''.
                                 ______


                   HOLLINGS AMENDMENTS NOS. 3095-3096

  Mr. HOLLINGS proposed two amendments to the joint resolution (S.J. 
Res. 31) supra; as follows:

                           Amendment No. 3095

       After the first article add the following:


                              ``article --

       ``Section 1. Total outlays for any fiscal year shall not 
     exceed total receipts for that fiscal year, unless three-
     fifths of the whole number of each House of Congress shall 
     provide by law for a specific excess of outlays over receipts 
     by a rollcall vote.
       ``Section 2. The limit on the debt of the United States 
     held by the public shall not be increased, unless three-
     fifths of the whole number of each House shall provide by law 
     for such an increase by a rollcall vote.
       ``Section 3. Prior to each fiscal year, the President shall 
     transmit to the Congress a proposed budget for the United 
     States government for that fiscal year, in which total 
     outlays do not exceed total receipts.
       ``Section 4. No bill to increase revenue shall become law 
     unless approved by a majority of the whole number of each 
     House by a rollcall vote.
       ``Section 5. The Congress may waive the provisions of this 
     article for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is 
     in effect. The provisions of this article may be waived for 
     any fiscal year in which the United States is engaged in 
     military conflict which causes an imminent and serious 
     military threat to national security and is so declared by a 
     joint resolution, adopted by a majority of the whole number 
     of each House, which becomes law.
       ``Section 6. The Congress shall enforce and implement this 
     article by appropriate legislation, which may rely on 
     estimates of outlays and receipts. The judicial power of the 
     United States shall not extend to any case or controversy 
     arising under this article except as may be specifically 
     authorized by legislation adopted pursuant to this section.
       ``Section 7. Total receipts shall include all receipts of 
     the United States government except those derived from 
     borrowing. Total outlays shall include all outlays of the 
     United States government except those for repayment of debt 
     principal. The receipts (including attributable interest) and 
     outlays of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 
     Fund and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund (as and if 
     modified to preserve the solvency of the funds) used to 
     provide old age, survivors, and disabilities benefits shall 
     not be counted as receipts or outlays for the purpose of this 
     article.
       ``Section 8. This article shall take effect beginning with 
     fiscal year 2002 or with the second fiscal year beginning 
     after its ratification, whichever is later.''
                                                                    ____


                           Amendment No. 3096

       After the first article add the following:


                              ``article --

       ``Section 1. Congress shall have power to set reasonable 
     limit on expenditures made in support of or in opposition to 
     the nomination or election of any person to Federal office.
       ``Section 2. Each State shall have power to set reasonable 
     limits on expenditures made in support of or in opposition to 
     the nomination or election of any person to State office.
       ``Section 3. Each local government of general jurisdiction 
     shall have power to set reasonable limits on expenditures 
     made in support of or in opposition to the nomination or 
     election of any person to office in that government. No State 
     shall have power to limit the power established by this 
     section.
       ``Section 4. Congress shall have power to implement and 
     enforce this article by appropriate legislation.''.
                                 ______


               McCONNELL (AND OTHERS) AMENDMENT NO. 3097

  Mr. McCONNELL (for himself, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Dorgan, and Mr. Bumpers) 
proposed an amendment to the joint resolution (S.J. Res. 31) supra; as 
follows:

       Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Flag Protection and Free 
     Speech Act of 1995''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
       (1) the flag of the United States is a unique symbol of 
     national unity and represents the values of liberty, justice, 
     and equality that make this Nation an example of freedom 
     unmatched throughout the world.
       (2) the Bill of Rights is a guarantee of those freedoms and 
     should not be amended in a manner that could be interpreted 
     to restrict freedom, a course that is regularly resorted to 
     by authoritarian governments which fear freedom and not by 
     free and democratic nations;
       (3) abuse of the flag of the United States causes more than 
     pain and distress to the overwhelming majority of the 
     American people and may amount to fighting words or a direct 
     threat to the physical and emotional well-being of 
     individuals at whom the threat is targeted; and
       (4) destruction of the flag of the United States can be 
     intended to incite a violent response rather than make a 
     political statement and such conduct is outside the 
     protections afforded by the first amendment to the United 
     States Constitution.
       (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to provide the 
     maximum protection against the use of the flag of the United 
     States to promote violence while respecting the liberties 
     that it symbolizes.

     SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES AGAINST 
                   USE FOR PROMOTING VIOLENCE.

       (a) In General.--Section 700 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:

     ``Sec. 700. Incitement; damage or destruction of property 
       involving the flag of the United States

       ``(a) Actions Promoting Violence.--Any person who destroys 
     or damages a flag of the United States with the primary 
     purpose and intent to incite or produce imminent violence or 
     a breach of the peace, and in circumstances where the person 
     knows it is reasonably likely to produce imminent violence or 
     a breach of the peace, shall be fined not more than $100,000 
     or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.
       ``(b) Damaging a Flag Belonging to the United States.--Any 
     person who steals or knowingly converts to his or her use, or 
     to the use of another, a flag of the United States belonging 
     to the United States and intentionally destroys or damages 
     that flag shall be fined not more than $250,000 or imprisoned 
     not more than 2 years, or both.
       ``(c) Damaging a Flag of Another on Federal Land.--Any 
     person who, within any lands reserved for the use of the 
     United States, or under the exclusive or concurrent 
     jurisdiction of the United States, steals or knowingly 
     converts to his or her use, or to the use of another, a flag 
     of the United States belonging to another person, and 
     intentionally destroys or damages that flag shall be fined 
     not more than $250,000 or imprisoned not more than 2 years, 
     or both.
       ``(d) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
     construed to indicate an intent on the part of Congress to 
     deprive any State, territory or possession of the United 
     States, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of jurisdiction 
     over any offense over which it would have jurisdiction in the 
     absence of this section.
       ``(e) Definition.--As used in this section, the term `flag 
     of the United States' means any flag of the United States, or 
     any part thereof, made of any substance, in any size, in a 
     form that is commonly displayed as a flag and would be taken 
     to be a flag by the reasonable observer.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 
     33 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking 
     the item relating to section 700 and inserting the following 
     new item:

``700. Incitement; damage or destruction of property involving the flag 
              of the United States.''.

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