[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 82 (Thursday, June 5, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AUTHORIZING CONGRESS TO PROHIBIT PHYSICAL 
              DESECRATION OF THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES

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                               speech of

                            HON. JEFF MILLER

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 3, 2003

  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, House Joint Resolution 4 does not 
outlaw flag desecration; rather, this proposal merely sets the 
boundaries by which Congress can enact subsequent legislation, if it so 
chooses, to prohibit such conduct. H.J. Res. 4 simply returns to 
Congress the authority that it possessed for over 200 years to prohibit 
the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.
  This past week, I visited North Korea, where freedom is nowhere and 
democratic thought is oppressed. Our American flag is the most revered 
and beloved symbol of our Nation, representing all that is American and 
reminding the world of our love of our freedom and democracy. The flag 
is a bedrock of our principles and values as a country, leading our men 
and women into conflicts around the globe and draping the caskets of 
those same individuals when they return home after giving the ultimate 
sacrifice in defense of such values. It is the flag to which we pledge 
allegiance, here on the floor of the House of Representatives, in civic 
organizations in every town in America, and in schools throughout our 
country. It is this object and all that it represents that Americans 
hold so dear.
  House Joint Resolution 4 will nullify two erroneous Supreme Court 
decisions, restoring the original interpretation to the First Amendment 
that had persisted for over two centuries since the birth of our 
country. When considering the powers of our respective branches of 
government in effecting the will of the American people, we should be 
reminded of the words of Abraham Lincoln in his first inaugural address 
in 1861, ``If the policy of the government upon vital questions 
affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of 
the Supreme Court, the people will have ceased to be their own 
rulers.''
  I commend my colleagues for recognizing the wishes of the American 
people and restoring the original interpretation and understanding of 
the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights to the Constitution by 
supporting this resolution.

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