Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 14, 1990 TAG: 9006140494
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE:
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"I don't want to see it change and become America, the land of the free as long as you agree - that loses me," Rep. Pat Schroeder, D-Colo., said Wednesday as the plan emerged with an "adverse" recommendation from the House Judiciary subcommittee on constitutional and civil rights.
Supporters said the flag deserves special protection. It "represents all that America stands for, embodies all that American means," Rep. Craig James, R-Fla., told the subcommittee.
The "adverse" label is guaranteed to have little or no impact as the measure races toward the floor where both sides say the real decision will be made.
Five subcommittee Democrats, all critics of the amendment, voted in favor of sending it forward with the "adverse" recommendation. Three Republicans voted against, because they wanted a "favorable" recommendation.
Plans call for a House floor vote as soon as the amendment clears the Judiciary Committee, perhaps as early as next week.
House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash., says he plans to break custom and participate in the vote. Aides said Wednesday that in the year he has been speaker he has voted only once, on Nov. 16 for a governmental ethics bill.
"As much as I deplore and decry flag burning, much as I am alienated and annoyed and repulsed by it as are other Americans, this is not a time when we should rush to tamper with the most sacred political document of our country's tradition," Foley told reporters on Tuesday.
To become part of the Constitution, the measure would have to win two-thirds majorities in both houses and approval in 38 state legislatures.
The Supreme Court on Monday threw out last year's statute barring flag mutilation, saying it violated the right to free speech.
President Bush, who has been outspoken in pressing for a constitutional amendment protecting the flag, visited the Vietnam War Memorial at daybreak today to watch one U.S. flag being lowered and a new one raised.
He did not speak at the brief ceremony and would not take questions from reporters.
-Associated Press
by CNB