[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 66 (Thursday, May 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5347]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CATHERINE KALINOWSKI, COLORADO STATE CHAMPION, THE CITIZENS FLAG 
                         ALLIANCE ESSAY CONTEST

 Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Catherine Kalinowski who has been named the Colorado State champion in 
The Citizens Flag Alliance Essay Contest. This young lady was charged 
with the task of writing an essay on the theme, ``The American Flag 
Protection Amendment: A Right of the People . . . the Right Thing to 
Do,'' and did a fine job of making the case for protecting the greatest 
of our national symbols.
  As many in this Chamber know, I am a strong supporter of a 
constitutional amendment to prohibit the desecration of our flag. The 
American flag is a great symbol of our Nation, and it should be 
regarded with the highest of honors. It is a part of our national 
identity, representing the hopes, dreams, and honor of our country.
  As I read this essay, one passage struck me as particularly 
insightful. I believe that Catherine sums up our beliefs best when she 
writes,

       The visage of the nation's flag has altered as it has aged, 
     with modifications in the dimensions, design, and number of 
     stars; yet changing appearance has not impeded the flag from 
     becoming the principal image of American ideals.

  I would like to submit the full text of Ms. Kalinowski's essay for 
inclusion in the Congressional Record at this time.
  Mr. President, Catherine Kalinowski represents the best and brightest 
that America has to offer. Young people like her are our future, a 
future that is brighter because of her commitment and resolve. On 
behalf of all Coloradans, I would like to congratulate Catherine and 
wish her the best of luck in the upcoming national competition.
  The essay follows:

The American Flag Protection Amendment: A Right of the People . . . the 
                           Right Thing to Do

                      (By Catherine M. Kalinowski)

       ``Stars and Stripes Forever,'' a song by John Philip Sousa 
     proclaims the American flag as ``the flag of the free'' and 
     ``the Banner of the Right.'' Sousa declares ``May it wave as 
     our standard forever,'' but may it? The flag of the United 
     States of America is so loosely protected by state and 
     federal laws that the molestation of the flag has become 
     acceptable. America's flag has gone from being a symbol of 
     freedom and righteousness to one of commercialism and 
     insurrection.
       As the Colonists fought for the rule of the land they 
     considered their own, creation of a separate identity from 
     England became important. Before a fleet of the Continental 
     Congress set out to intercept British supply boats coming 
     into Boston, Col. Joseph Reed wrote to his commander, General 
     George Washington. ``Please to fix upon Some particular 
     Colour for a Flag--& a Signal, by which our vessels may know 
     one another.'' Col. Reed's letter of request was lamentably 
     late, forcing the ships to sail under their old flags. The 
     flag issue was settled when on June 14, 1777, Congress, 
     ``Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be 
     thirteen stripes alternate red and white; that the union be 
     thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new 
     constellation.'' And by November 1, 1777, Stars and Stripes 
     were seen flying from a US ship under the command of 
     Continental Navy Captain John Paul Jones. The flag on Jones' 
     vessel was the first to represent the United States in a 
     foreign port and to receive recognition as representing 
     America as a nation, being given a nine-gun salute by the 
     French at Quiberon Bay. Though originally needed for the 
     practical objective of identification at sea, the creation of 
     Old Glory became significant to the establishment of the 
     nation.
       The visage of the nation's flag has altered as it has aged, 
     with modifications in the dimensions, design, and number of 
     stars; yet changing appearance has not impeded the flag from 
     becoming the principal image of American ideals. Life, 
     liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is embodied in every 
     stitch of the US flag. As United States Senator Paul Fannin 
     wrote, ``Those who tear down the flag reveal their hatred for 
     everything good and great in our country, because the flag is 
     a symbol of what we want America to be--a land of justice, 
     opportunity, equality and compassion.'' New York Mayor 
     John V. Lindsay viewed the flag as having individual stars 
     and stripes to represent the individuality of the 
     country's citizens; however, because the same flag flies 
     over all Americans, the flag ``binds us together in the 
     common enterprise we call America.'' A representation of 
     so much positive in American society, a representation of 
     the United States itself, it is unfortunate that the flag 
     is becoming insignificant.
       During the beginning of this century, most states enacted 
     laws to discourage flag desecration, outlawing placing any 
     marks or pictures of the flag, forbade any flag usage for 
     commercial purposes, and banned any physical destruction of 
     flags or any'' act or words' that publicly cast ``contempt'' 
     on the flag. These standards have been obscured to the point 
     of oblivion. The flag is pictured on everything from apparel 
     and political paraphernalia to automobiles and boxes of 
     cereal. Depicted on every corner, the flag no longer receives 
     the veneration due to it. Penalization for defiling the flag 
     through acts such as flag burning was practiced until what 
     has been called the 1989-1990 Flag Burning Controversy. 
     Gregory Lee Johnson was arrested in 1984 for burning a flag 
     in Dallas, Texas. Under Texas' Venerated Objects law, Johnson 
     had committed a crime and was sentenced to the maximum 
     penalty of one year in prison and a fine of $2,000. An 
     appeals court reversed Johnson's conviction by a 5-4 vote on 
     April 20, 1988. Dallas County, in response to the Texas Court 
     of Criminal Appeals, requested the ruling of the U.S. Supreme 
     Court. The decision of the Supreme Court upheld through 
     another 5-4 vote the conclusion of the Texas court, agreeing 
     that flag burning is protected by the First Amendment. In 
     response to the Johnson decision, there have been votes for 
     an amendment protecting the flag, but none with enough 
     majority to adopt the amendment.
       Constitutionality of flag burning has been supported by the 
     guarantee of free speech, including symbolic speech, in the 
     First Amendment. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that 
     freedom of speech has limits; restricted areas of speech 
     include obscenity, defamation, speech that leads to illegal 
     action, fighting words, and speech in public schools. Because 
     obscenity is generally defined as anything that violates 
     society's standards of decency, desecration of Old Glory 
     could be considered indecent, thus unprotected by the 
     Constitution. The consideration of actions protected as 
     speech also allows for destruction of the flag to be viewed 
     as fighting words, exceeding another limit of the First 
     Amendment. In Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942), the Supreme 
     Court defined ``fighting words'' as words that, ``have a 
     direct tendency to cause acts of violence.'' Flag burning 
     seems a fighting word as it often leads to acts of violence. 
     When considering obscenity and fighting words, the flag does 
     not appear to be protected by free speech. Therefore, it 
     seems in order to go ahead and proceed with the next step, 
     creating an American Flag Protection Amendment.
       To propose such a protection amendment, two-thirds of the 
     members of both houses of Congress or the same percentage of 
     members of a national convention must vote for the proposal 
     of the amendment. Once proposed, three-fourths of the states 
     must ratify the amendment by a vote in each state's 
     legislature or state convention. If enough citizens gave 
     their support of an American Flag Protection Amendment, the 
     representatives of the people would surely follow their will 
     and obtain protection for the banner of the nation.
       American's flag needs and deserves to be treated with 
     dignity, and it is the right of the public to rally for 
     Constitutional protection of the magnificent symbol of the 
     United States. So much time as already elapsed--now is the 
     time to act justly on the behalf of Old Glory. With swift 
     action, Stars and Stripes will be able to, ``wave as our 
     standard forever.''

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