[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 149 (Monday, November 18, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S11315]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-360. A joint resolution adopted by the Alaska State 
     Legislature relative to the desecration of the United States 
     Flag; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

                       Legislative Resolve No. 59

       Be it resolved by the Legislature of the State of Alaska:
       Whereas certain actions, although arguably related to one 
     person's free expression, nevertheless raise issues 
     concerning public decency, public peace, and the rights of 
     expression and sacred values of others; and
       Whereas there are symbols of our national soul, such as the 
     Washington Monument, the United States Capitol Building, and 
     memorials to our greatest leaders, that are the property of 
     every American and are therefore worthy of protection from 
     desecration and dishonor; and
       Whereas the American Flag was most nobly born in the 
     struggle for independence that began with ``The Shot Heard 
     Round the World'' on a bridge in Concord, Massachusetts; and
       Whereas, in the War of 1812, the American Flag stood boldly 
     against foreign invasion, symbolized the stand of a young and 
     brave nation against the mighty world power of that day and, 
     in its courageous resilience, inspired our national anthem; 
     and
       Whereas, in the Second World War, the American Flag was the 
     banner that led the American battle against facist 
     imperialism from the depths of Pearl Harbor to the 
     mountaintop on Iwo Jima, and from defeat in North Africa's 
     Kasserine Pass to victory in the streets of Hitler's Germany; 
     and
       Whereas Alaska's star was woven into the fabric of the Flag 
     in 1959, and that 49th star has become an integral part of 
     the Union; and
       Whereas the American Flag symbolizes the ideals that good 
     and decent people fought for in Vietnam, often at the expense 
     of their lives or at the cost of cruel condemnation upon 
     their return home; and
       Whereas the American Flag symbolizes the sacred values for 
     which loyal Americans risked and often lost their lives in 
     securing civil rights for all Americans, regardless of race, 
     sex, or creed; and
       Whereas the American Flag was carried to the moon as a 
     banner of goodwill, vision, and triumph on behalf of all 
     mankind; and
       Whereas the American Flag was raised by New York City fire 
     fighters atop the rubble of the World Trade Center and became 
     the symbol of a nation challenged as it had never been 
     before; and
       Whereas the American Flag to this day is a most honorable 
     and worthy banner of a nation that is thankful for its 
     strengths and committed to curing its faults and remains the 
     destination of millions of immigrants attracted by the 
     universal power of the American ideal; and
       Whereas the law as interpreted by the United States Supreme 
     Court no longer accords to the Stars and Stripes that 
     reverence, respect, and dignity befitting the banner of that 
     most noble experiment of a nation-state; and
       Whereas House Joint Resolution 36, which passed the United 
     States House of Representatives and has been referred to the 
     United States Senate, proposes an amendment to the United 
     States Constitution stating, ``The Congress shall have power 
     to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the 
     United States''; and
       Whereas Senate Joint Resolution 7, introduced in the United 
     States Senate, proposes an amendment to the United States 
     Constitution stating, ``The Congress shall have LR 59 power 
     to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the 
     United States''; and
       Whereas it is only fitting that people everywhere should 
     lend their voices to a forceful call for restoration to the 
     Stars and Stripes of a proper station under law and decency; 
     be it
       Resolved by the Alaska State Legislature, That the Congress 
     of the United States is requested to pass House Joint 
     Resolution 36 or Senate Resolution 7, or comparable 
     legislation, and present to the legislatures of the several 
     states an amendement to the Constitution of the United States 
     that would specifically provide the Congress power to 
     prohibit the physical desecration of the Flag of the United 
     States; this request does not constitute a call for a 
     constitutional convention; and be it further
       Resolved, That the legislatures of the several states are 
     invited to join with Alaska to secure ratification of the 
     proposed amendment.

                          ____________________