Hatch wins first step toward flag amendment

WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch has narrowly won the first battle this year for his proposed constitutional amendment to protect the U.S. flag.

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution passed it Wednesday on a 5-4 vote. It now goes to the full committee, which is chaired by Hatch. He said the full committee will consider it Thursday.

Constitutional amendments must pass both houses by a two-thirds vote, and be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures. Hatch has pushed the amendment since 1989, when the Supreme Court ruled flag burning is a protected form of speech.

"This week of Memorial Day, and of the 60th anniversary of D-Day, is an especially appropriate moment for us to reflect upon the meaning of the flag," Hatch, R-Utah, said in a statement. "Whatever our differences of party, race, religion, or socioeconomic status, the flag reminds us that we are very much one people, united in a shared destiny."

He said the flag is such an important symbol that it deserves protection, and that passing the amendment "will cause many Americans to renew their faith in — and commitment to — the ideals and values of America that are greater than anyone's personal self-interest."

However, opponents say the amendment could infringe on free speech and freedoms the flag represents. Interestingly, one of the key critics is Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, who agrees with Hatch on almost everything else.

Bennett told the Senate in 2000 that if Hatch's amendment ever passes, "The words will lie there. I don't think they will make much difference (to stop flag burners), but they will be there as a symbol of our willingness to overturn more than 200 years of tradition with respect to individual rights as outlined in the First Amendment."

The American Civil Liberties Union also attacked it. "The flag amendment would restrict the First Amendment for the first time and undermine American values. As individuals, we are free to condemn those that would deface the flag, but censorship has no place in the Constitution," said Terri Ann Schroeder, an ACLU legislative analyst.

The amendment fell four votes short of passage the last time it came to a Senate vote in 2000 — exactly the number of Republicans who failed to support it (including Bennett).

Hatch now has a total of 56 co-sponsors on his amendment, and has said 64 current senators are on record as supporting it. That leaves him three short of the 67 needed for passage. Also, all 50 state legislatures have petitioned Congress to pass the amendment and send it to them.

Hatch's amendment reads simply, "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the Constitution subcommittee, said Wednesday, "There are many ways to express one's views. But there is only one U.S. flag — and it deserves constitutional protection."

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