Idaho Lawmakers Support Amendment Bill

Idaho Lawmakers Support Amendment Bill

Idaho Congressmen Mike Simpson and C.L. "Butch" Otter joined more than two-thirds of their House colleagues Wednesday in supporting legislation to amend the Constitution by authorizing Congress to prohibit physical desecration of the American flag.

The 286-130 vote on House Joint Resolution 10 marked the fifth time that the House has approved identical language in response to resolutions from all 50 state legislatures calling on Congress to pass a flag protection amendment. Both Simpson and Otter were among 196 House cosponsors of the measure, for which polls show overwhelming public support.

Despite the support of Idaho Senators Larry Craig and Mike Crapo, the Senate has twice fallen just short of the two-thirds majority required to send an amendment to the states for ratification by three-fourths of their number - or 38 states - within seven years.

In 1989, statutes on the books of the federal government and every state except Alaska and Wyoming outlawed the physical desecration of the American flag. However, that same year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Texas v. Johnson that the First Amendment protected burning an American flag as part of a political demonstration. In 1990, the high court ruled 5-4 against the Flag Protection Act, which Congress passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in response to the earlier opinion.

House Joint Resolution 10 will not prohibit flag desecration. Rather, it will empower Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag and establish boundaries within which Congress may legislate to prosecute such conduct.

"For more than 200 years the Stars and Stripes have served as a worldwide symbol of liberty. The flag has guided soldiers on war-torn battlefields and has been draped over patriots' coffins who have given their lives for freedom. As a symbol of our country, I believe it deserves and demands protection from those who would desecrate it. I am proud to have joined the House of Representatives to begin the process of protecting this sacred symbol," Congressman Simpson said.

"I am a staunch defender of individual liberties and our First Amendment freedoms, including freedom of speech. However, I believe desecrating the American flag is not free speech, but rather conduct consistent with what courts have defined as ‘fighting words.' Just as burning a cross is illegal conduct and not protected speech, so too should burning the American flag be counted in that category of particularly incendiary acts," Congressman Otter said. "The people have made their wishes clear on this point. I believe the Founders' intended the process of amending our Constitution to be responsive to just such public imperatives, and for the process to be both democratic and thorough in considering such action. Our vote today only begins that process, and I welcome the discussion on our values and principles it will engender."

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/id02_simpson/flag_amendment.html