[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 141 (Friday, October 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S12158]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            WHY THE FLAG AMENDMENT DEBATE IS APPROPRIATE NOW

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I would like to make a few very brief 
remarks about our inability to get a time agreement on the flag 
amendment, and respond to the assertion that it is somehow 
inappropriate to debate this important issue at this time. I think it 
is entirely appropriate that we debate the constitutional amendment to 
protect our flag at this time in the year. There is no better time than 
the present to discuss the values the flag represents: the unity and 
common values of all Americans.
  The flag amendment should, like the flag itself, unite us. And it 
does unite Americans of both parties. This amendment is cosponsored by 
61 Members of the Senate, Republicans and Democrats. Senator Cleland, a 
war hero, who has sacrificed much, and who is a Democrat, is the 
primary cosponsor.
  And ultimately, all we supporters of the amendment are asking for is 
a chance to let the American people decide whether to protect the flag 
by debating the amendment in ratification debates in each of the State 
legislatures. And the people clearly want the flag amendment. Forty-
nine State legislatures have called for the flag amendment. And polling 
has consistently shown that more than three-quarters of the American 
people have consistently supported a flag amendment over the years 
since the Supreme Court's fateful decision in Texas versus Johnson in 
1989.
  Mr. President, I believe this legislation not only is vital to 
protect our shared values as Americans, but this debate is also timely 
today as we all strive to recover what is good and decent about our 
country.
  Mr. President, we see evidence of moral decay and a lack of standards 
all around us. Behavior that was once found to be shameful is now 
routinely excused because ``everybody does it.'' Our popular culture, 
including movies and television, bombard us with messages of gratuitous 
sex and violence. Even sports figures too often set a terrible example 
for the young people that follow their every move.
  And yet here today we have a unique opportunity to do something 
uplifting, something decent, something that will make our country 
proud. We have an opportunity to say to a few exhibitionists and 
anarchists that in pursuit of your fifteen minutes of fame, you may not 
deface the most sacred embodiment of the virtues of our country. You 
may not dishonor the memory of those millions of men and women who have 
given their lives for America. You may not yet again lower standards of 
elemental decency that all of must and should live by. Today, we will 
say that our flag, the embodiment of so many of our hopes and dreams, 
can no longer be dragged through the mud, torn asunder, or defecated 
on.
  Can anyone think of a better message to send to our citizens and to 
our young people than to begin to reclaim appropriate standards of 
behavior for everyone in this country? Mr. President, there will be 
those who will decry this discussion as a distraction from ``real'' and 
``important'' matters of taxes and budgets and regulation and other 
Federal programs. These issues are important and the Congress must deal 
with them. But that should not obscure our inattention to the ``values 
deficit'' that exists in public life today. We need more public 
conversation about values and standards. We must take every opportunity 
to set the right behavioral standards for our children, lest we become 
a nation of cynics who snicker every time someone tries to reinstill 
virtue into public life.
  And so, Mr. President, not only is this discussion appropriate today, 
but it is critical. I can think of no more important conversation we 
can have in America than how we use American liberty to promote public 
virtue.
  Protecting the American flag from physical desecration is a small but 
important way to begin this important debate.
  Now, having said all that, I am disappointed that opponents of the 
flag amendment have rejected a reasonable time agreement, without even 
offering an alternative time agreement. I would be interested to know 
what would be acceptable.
  Finally, if it should be the case that we are not going to debate the 
flag amendment this year, and that is how it appears, I believe we 
should bring it up early in the new Congress, and debate and vote on it 
at the earliest opportunity next year. I want my colleagues to know 
that I will be back next year and I will trust that this important 
matter will be acted on early in the next session. The American people 
want the opportunity to debate the flag amendment in the States, and I 
believe we should listen to the people on this.

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