Senate Panel Advances U.S. Flag-Burning Ban Proposal (Update1)
June 15 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved a constitutional amendment that would empower Congress to outlaw flag burning, setting the stage for an election-year debate about ``desecration'' of the national symbol.
The measure, passed by a vote of 11-7, has already been approved by a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives. To become part of the Constitution, the amendment must be passed by the same margin in the Senate and ratified by 38 state legislatures.
The measure would overturn a 1989 Supreme Court ruling. The justices, voting 5-4, struck down a Texas law barring flag burning, ruling it restricted freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution. Supporters argued today the proposed amendment would restore the power of Congress to decide the flag-burning issue, not unelected judges.
``If we can protect the bald eagle, another symbol of our nation, from killing, I think we ought to be able to protect our flag,'' said Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn.
Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican, said he believed more than 67 senators, or two-thirds, would support the measure if they were ``allowed to vote their consciences.''
Both sides predict a close Senate vote. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada supports the proposed amendment. The Senate's No. 2 Republican, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, opposes it.
Grant of Authority
The proposal would give state legislatures seven years to ratify the proposed amendment. If it became part of the Constitution, the House and Senate would have to pass separate legislation to ban flag burning, mutilation or other forms of desecration.
``The point is to have a general grant of authority to Congress to legislate in this area,'' said Arizona Republican Jon Kyl.
Before the high court's 1989 decision, 48 states outlawed flag burning.
All 10 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee voted in favor of the amendment. Seven of the panel's eight Democrats opposed it. Democrats accused Republicans of using the debate to score political points in an election year.
Delaware Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has supported legislation to ban flag burning, argued that the amendment was too vague because it doesn't define desecration.
The amendment would ``leave to the authority of the government to make a subjective judgment as to whether or not the action taken relative to the flag is a violation of the law,'' Biden said.
`Very Skimpy Bathing Suit'
That could permit the prosecution of women on beaches ``wearing a very skimpy bathing suit'' decorated with the flag's stars and stripes, he said. ``Is that desecration of the flag?''
``When you get to a bikini or a bathing suit, it's not a flag, it's a bikini,'' said California Senator Dianne Feinstein, the only Democrat to support the measure.
Biden argued that the measure amounts to a ``de facto amendment'' of the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech, by allowing the government do decide what was desecration.
``Protecting the flag is not going to prevent people from expressing their point of view,'' Feinstein said.
Biden said he would support an amendment that allowed Congress to ban ``burning, mutilation and trampling'' of the flag.
``If it's not some political stunt, let's do it,'' he said. The panel rejected Biden's proposed change on a voice vote.
The House approved a proposed flag-burning amendment five times, most recently in June 2005 on a 286-130 vote. The Senate last voted on a flag-burning amendment in 2000, falling four votes short of the 67 required to pass.
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