[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 86 (Friday, June 24, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1343-E1344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        BRAC REGIONAL FIELD HEARING IN RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. STEPHANIE HERSETH

                            of south dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 23, 2005

  Ms. HERSETH. Mr. Speaker, on June 20-23, 2005, I attended the Base 
Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Regional Field Hearing in Rapid City, 
South Dakota in an effort to convince BRAC commissioners to remove 
Ellsworth Air Force Base--South Dakota's second largest employer--from 
the Department of Defense's list of military bases recommended for 
closure. Therefore, I was unavoidably absent from the House of 
Representatives on these days and was unable to support important 
legislation brought before the full House.
  I would like the record to show that had I been present I would have 
voted in support of H.R. 2863, the Fiscal Year 2006 Department of 
Defense Appropriations Act; H.R. 2475, the Fiscal 2006 Intelligence 
Authorization Act; and H.J. Res. 110, the Flag Desecration Amendment to 
the United States Constitution.
  The Fiscal Year 2006 Defense Appropriations bill funds the activities 
of the Department of Defense including the funds needed to outfit and 
train our servicemen and women and important benefits and services for 
members of our military and their families. The bill also includes 
funding for three partnership programs between the Department of 
Defense and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. These 
important programs will help bring together a unique array of 
capabilities offered by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology 
to help our Nation's military meet the challenge of transformation and 
modernization.
  I will continue to work with my colleagues in the House of 
Representatives to improve our Nation's commitment to the men and women 
who serve in the military. There is no question that all Americans owe 
their freedom to those brave enough to serve in our Nation's military.
  I also would like to express my support for the Fiscal Year 2006 
Intelligence Authorization Act. This bill provides funding for 15 U.S. 
intelligence agencies and intelligence-related activities of the U.S. 
government--including the CIA and the National Security Agency, as well 
as foreign intelligence activities of the Defense Department, FBI, 
State Department, Homeland Security Department, and other agencies. I 
will continue working to ensure our Federal intelligence and security 
agencies receive the resources and funding needed to protect the United 
States from external and internal threats.
  Finally, I would like to express my support for the flag desecration 
amendment to the United States Constitution. This resolution authorizes 
Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United 
States. Our Nation's flag is a symbol of freedom and a source of pride 
for all of us fortunate enough to call ourselves Americans. Our Nation 
has always encouraged free discussion and reasonable disagreement, but 
the physical desecration of an American flag goes beyond the pale. Such 
actions are insulting to those who have fought, and died, under the 
American flag, and I am proud to support efforts to ban flag 
desecration.
  In 1989, the Supreme Court held that no laws could prohibit political 
protesters from burning the American flag and declared unconstitutional 
the flag desecration laws of 48 states and of the United States. In 
that case, Texas v. Johnson, Justice Stevens wrote a powerful 
dissenting opinion that has guided my reasoning on the Amendment for 
some time.
  Justice Stevens pointed out the importance of distinguishing between 
disagreeable ideas and disagreeable conduct. In a particularly apt 
analogy, Justice Stevens noted that if Johnson had spray painted his 
message on the Lincoln Memorial, the government could prohibit his 
``expression.'' I have always found myself in agreement with the idea 
that there should be a legitimate interest in preserving the quality of 
an important national asset.

[[Page E1344]]

  I look forward to continuing to work on these and other important 
issues in the 109th Congress.

                          ____________________