[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 74 (Wednesday, June 14, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5060-S5061]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                COMMEMORATION OF FLAG DAY, JUNE 14, 2000

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, 223 years ago today, the United States 
was engaged in its war for independence. I note that the American 
Continental Army, now the United States Army, was established by the 
Continental Congress, just 2 years earlier on June 14, 1775. I express 
my congratulations to the United States Army on its 225th birthday.
  At the start of that war, American colonists fought under a variety 
of local flags. The Continental Colors, or Grand Union Flag, was the 
unofficial national flag from 1775-1777. This flag had thirteen 
alternating red and white stripes, with the English flag in the upper 
left corner.
  Following the publication of the Declaration of Independence, it was 
no longer appropriate to fly a banner containing the British flag. 
Accordingly, on June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed a 
resolution that ``the Flag of the United States be 13 stripes alternate 
red and white, and the Union be 13 stars white in a blue field 
representing a new constellation.''
  No record exists as to why the Continental Congress adopted the now-
familiar red, white and blue. A later action by the Congress, convened 
under the Articles of Confederation, may provide an appropriate 
interpretation on the use of these colors. Five years after adopting 
the flag resolution, in 1782, a resolution regarding the Great Seal of 
the United States contained a statement on the meanings of the colors: 
red--for hardiness and courage; white--for purity and innocence; and 
blue--for vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
  The stripes, symbolic of the thirteen original colonies, were similar 
to the five red and four white stripes on the flag of the Sons of 
Liberty, an early colonial flag. The stars of the first national flag 
after 1777 were arranged in a variety of patterns. The most popular 
design placed the stars in alternating rows of three or two stars. 
Another flag placed twelve stars in a circle with the thirteenth star 
in the center. A now popular image of a flag of that day, although it 
was rarely used at the time, placed the thirteen stars in a circle.
  As our country has grown, the Stars and Stripes have undergone 
necessary modifications. Alterations include the addition, then 
deletion, of stripes; and the addition and rearrangement of the field 
of stars.
  While our Star-Spangled Banner has seen changes, the message it 
represents is constant. That message is one of patriotism and respect, 
wherever the flag is found flying. Henry Ward Beecher, a prominent 19th 
century clergyman and lecturer stated, ``A thoughtful mind, when it 
sees a nation's flag, sees not the flag only, but the nation itself; 
and whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the 
flag the Government, the principles, the truths, and the history which 
belong to the nation that sets it forth.''
  Old Glory represents the land, the people, the government and the 
ideals of the United States, no matter when or where it is displayed 
throughout the world--in land battle, the first such occurrence being 
August 16, 1777 at the Battle of Bennington; on a U.S. Navy ship, such 
as the Ranger, under the command of John Paul Jones in November 1777; 
or in Antarctica, in 1840, on the pilot boat Flying Fish of the Charles 
Wilkes expedition.
  The flag has proudly represented our Republic beyond the Earth and 
into the heavens. The stirring images of Neil Armstrong and Edwin 
Aldrin saluting the flag on the moon, on July 20, 1969 moved the Nation 
to new heights of patriotism and national pride.
  Today we pause to commemorate our Nation's most clear symbol--our 
flag. An early account of a day of celebration of the flag was reported 
by the Hartford Courant suggesting an observance was held throughout 
the State of Connecticut, in 1861. The origin of our modern Flag Day is 
often traced to the work of Bernard Cigrand, who in 1885 held his own 
observance of the flag's birthday in his one-room schoolhouse in 
Waubeka, WI. This began his decades-long campaign for a day of national 
recognition of the Flag. His advocacy for this cause was reflected in 
numerous newspaper articles, books, magazines and lectures of the day. 
His celebrated pamphlet on ``Laws and Customs Regulating the Use of the 
Flag of the United States'' received wide distribution.
  His petition to President Woodrow Wilson for a national observance 
was rewarded with a Presidential Proclamation designating June 14, 1916 
as Flag Day. On a prior occasion President Wilson noted:

       Things that the flag stands for were created by the 
     experiences of a great people. Everything that it stands for 
     was written by their lives. The flag is the embodiment, not 
     of sentiment, but of history. It represents the experiences 
     made by men and women, the experiences of those who do and 
     live under the flag.

  Flag Day was officially designated a national observance by a Joint 
Resolution approved by Congress and the President in 1949, and first 
celebrated the following year. This year then marks the 50th 
anniversary of a Congressionally designated Flag Day.

[[Page S5061]]

  It is appropriate that we pause today, on this Flag Day, to render 
our respect and honor to the symbol of our Nation, and to review our 
commitment to the underlying principles it represents. Today, let us 
reflect on the deeds and sacrifices of those who have gone before and 
the legacy they left to us. Let us ponder our own endeavors and the 
inheritance we will leave to future generations.
  Finally, as we commemorate the heritage our flag represents, may we 
as a nation pledge not only our allegiance, but also our efforts to 
furthering the standards represented by its colors--courage, virtue, 
perseverance, and justice. Through these universal concepts, We the 
People can ensure better lives for ourselves and our children, for 
these are the characteristics of greatness. In doing so, we can move 
closer to the goal so well stated by Daniel Webster at the laying of 
the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Monument on June 17, 1825. On that 
occasion he said:

       Let our object be our country, our whole country, and 
     nothing but our country. And, by the blessing of God, may 
     that country itself become a vast and splendid monument, not 
     of oppression and terror, but of Wisdom, of Peace, and of 
     Liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration 
     forever.

  I have long supported legislation which imposes penalties on anyone 
who knowingly mutilates, defaces, burns, tramples upon, or physically 
defiles any U.S. flag. I have also supported a constitutional amendment 
to grant Congress and the States the power to prohibit the physical 
desecration of the U.S. flag. I regret that earlier this year this 
Senate failed to adopt a Resolution for a flag protection 
Constitutional amendment.
  I am pleased that last year the Senate adopted a Resolution to 
provide for a designated Senator to lead the Senate in reciting the 
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States. This has added 
greatly to the opening of the Senate each day.
  Mr. President, today I encourage my colleagues and all Americans to 
take note of the history and meaning of this 14th day of June. We 
celebrate our Flag, observing its 223rd birthday, and the 225-year-old 
Army which has so proudly and valiantly defended it and our great 
Nation.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank Mr. Warner, the distinguished senior 
Senator from Virginia, and Mr. Harry Reid, the distinguished Senator 
from Nevada, for accommodating the President pro tempore, Mr. Thurmond, 
and me at this time.

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