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Capito Applauds Passage of Flag Protection Amendment

Date: June 22, 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Judicial Branch


Capito Applauds Passage of Flag Protection Amendment
6/22/2005

WASHINGTON, DC- (6/22) - Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) wants Congress to take decisive action to protect the American flag from desecration by supporting an amendment to the U.S. Constitution protecting our nation's primary symbol of freedom and democracy.

"West Virginians know the colors Red, White, and Blue don't run," noted Capito. "Protecting the American flag with the full force of the U.S. Constitution sends a strong message that Americans will always stand and fight for our flag just as we fight for our freedom. From the hills of Iwo Jima to the surface of the moon, the American flag has always been the drumbeat in freedom's march. Amending the U.S. Constitution to protect our flag will give notice that you will be held accountable for attacking our freedom if you attack the fabric of our flag."

The amendment gives congress authority to legislate over flag desecration, such as burning, shredding, or other physical mistreatment of the flag. Congress and the States exercised such power in the past until the United States Supreme Court issued the 1989 decision in Texas v. Johnson, which held that flag burning is expressive conduct, protected by the first amendment. Although legislation has failed to pass numerous times in the Senate, all 50 states have passed resolutions calling on Congress to approve a constitutional amendment to protect the flag and to send it to the states for ratification.

H.J.Res. 10, the legislation which proposes an amendment to the Constitution of the United States authorizing the Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States, passed the U.S. House today by a roll call vote of 286-130. In order to be enacted into law, H.J. Res. 10 will need to be adopted by a two-thirds majority in the U.S. Senate, and then ratified by three-fourths of America's state legislatures.

http://capito.house.gov/press_office/detail-page.aspx?id=86&whichone=pr

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