A constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the American flag fell a single vote short of passage in the Senate on Tuesday night in what may have been its best chance for approval.
The Senate voted 66-34 to send the would-be 28th Amendment to the 50 state legislatures for ratification, but that was one vote short of the two-thirds majority it needed.
Since the last Senate vote on the amendment, in 2000, the issue had gained political and emotional resonance. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, with Americans once again dying on foreign battlefields and with 4th of July celebrations next week, the rhetoric in the debate was punctuated with patriotism and reverence.
The measure, had it passed and then been ratified, would have been the first change to the Constitution approved by Congress in more than three decades. The House handily approved the proposal last year. In its entirety, the proposed amendment said, “The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.”
Both the amendment’s supporters and opponents acknowledged the importance of honoring Old Glory. But detractors, most of them Democrats, argued that the flag’s protection through the proposed amendment would undermine the principle of freedom of expression guaranteed by the 1st Amendment that protesters have used in burning or destroying the flag. The critics also charged Republican leaders with using the measure as a political weapon in looking toward the November elections.
In both chambers, Republicans are loading up the congressional schedule with measures that often have little chance of passage but may serve to garner conservative support, from bans on same-sex marriage to cutting the estate tax. House Republicans intend to hold votes this summer and fall touching on abortion, guns, religion and other priority issues for social conservatives, part of an attempt to improve GOP prospects in the midterm elections.
Despite charges of partisan politicking, however, 14 Democrats voted for the proposed amendment, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Bob Bennett of Utah and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island voted against it.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who opposed the measure, offered substitute legislation, but it lost on a 64-36 vote. It would have protected the flag in four specific instances, including when a flag was destroyed or damaged with the intent to incite violence, and also would have banned demonstrations at the funerals of military personnel.
Proponents of the amendment said repeatedly that its passage was the only way to restore to Congress the authority the Supreme Court took away in its 1989 ruling that said burning an American flag was a protected form of speech.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chief sponsor of the amendment, said, “What we would be doing is sending a message to the [Supreme Court], you cannot usurp the power of the Congress of the United States.”
Supporters of the amendment noted that its mere passage would have done nothing to directly prohibit desecration of the flag because it would have required Congress to pass legislation precisely defining the terms “flag” and “desecration.” The Citizens’ Flag Alliance, an umbrella group that supported the amendment, said it has documented 130 instances of flag desecration since 1994. But Dan Wheeler, the group’s president, said it does not have an active documentation effort, believing that no amount of flag desecration would be sufficient to sway the amendment’s opponents. Hatch and others agreed that numbers miss the point.
But opponents refused to concede that even a limited number of disrespectful acts against the Stars and Stripes should be allowed to limit Americans’ fundamental freedoms.
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) said, “When we uphold 1st Amendment freedoms despite the efforts of misguided and despicable people who want to provoke our wrath, we explain what America is really about. Our country and our people are far too strong to be threatened by those that would burn a flag.”
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Senate roll call
How senators voted on the constitutional amendment to ban flag desecration. A “yes” vote was a vote for the amendment.
Democrats Yes–14
Baucus (Mont.), Bayh (Ind.), Dayton (Minn.), Feinstein (Calif.), Johnson (S.D.), Landrieu (La.), Lincoln (Ark.), Menendez (N.J.), Nelson (Fla.), Nelson (Neb.), Reid (Nev.), Rockefeller (W.Va.), Salazar (Colo.), Stabenow (Mich.)
Democrats No–30
Akaka (Hawaii), Biden (Del.), Bingaman (N.M.), Boxer (Calif.), Byrd (W.Va.), Cantwell (Wash.), Carper (Del.), Clinton (N.Y.), Conrad (N.D.), Dodd (Conn.), Dorgan (N.D.), Durbin (Ill.), Feingold (Wis.), Harkin (Iowa), Inouye (Hawaii), Kennedy (Mass.), Kerry (Mass.), Kohl (Wis.), Lautenberg (N.J.), Leahy (Vt.), Levin (Mich.), Lieberman (Conn.), Mikulski (Md.), Murray (Wash.), Obama (Ill.), Pryor (Ark.), Reed (R.I.), Sarbanes (Md.), Schumer (N.Y.), Wyden (Ore.)
Republicans Yes–52
Alexander (Tenn.), Allard (Colo.), Allen (Va.), Bond (Mo.), Brownback (Kan.), Bunning (Ky.), Burns (Mont.), Burr (N.C.), Chambliss (Ga.), Coburn (Okla.), Cochran (Miss.), Coleman (Minn.), Collins (Maine), Cornyn (Texas), Craig (Idaho), Crapo (Idaho), DeMint (S.C.), DeWine (Ohio), Dole (N.C.), Domenici (N.M.), Ensign (Nev.), Enzi (Wyo.), Frist (Tenn.), Graham (S.C.), Grassley (Iowa), Gregg (N.H.), Hagel (Neb.), Hatch (Utah), Hutchison (Texas), Inhofe (Okla.), Isakson (Ga.), Kyl (Ariz.), Lott (Miss.), Lugar (Ind.), Martinez (Fla.), McCain (Ariz.), Murkowski (Alaska), Roberts (Kan.), Santorum (Pa.), Sessions (Ala.), Shelby (Ala.), Smith (Ore.), Snowe (Maine), Specter (Pa.), Stevens (Alaska), Sununu (N.H.), Talent (Mo.), Thomas (Wyo.), Thune (S.D.), Vitter (La.), Voinovich (Ohio), Warner (Va.)
Republicans No–3
Bennett (Utah), Chafee (R.I.), McConnell (Ky.)
Others No–1
Jeffords (Vt.)–Associated Press
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NATIONAL PRIDE SURVEY
U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
When it comes to national pride, Americans are No. 1, according to a survey of 34 countries’ patriotism.
Venezuela came in a close second in the survey, released Tuesday by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.
People rated how proud they were of their countries in 10 areas: political influence, social security, the way their democracy works, economic success, science and technology, sports, arts and literature, military, history, and fair treatment of all groups in society.
The report is based on two studies of national identity. The first was in 1995-96 and the second in 2003-04. Both studies tracked opinions separately in what were formerly East Germany and West Germany. Here is how the countries ranked:
1. U.S.A. (flag illustrated)
2. Venezuela (flag illustrated)
3. Ireland (flag illustrated)
4. S. Africa (flag illustrated)
5. Australia (flag illustrated)
6. Canada
7. Philippines
8. Austria
9. New Zealand
10. Chile
11. Great Britain
12. Israel
13. Uruguay
14. Finland
15. Spain
16. Denmark
17. Switzerland
18. Japan
19. France
20. Portugal
21. Hungary
22. Bulgaria
23. Norway
24. Russia
25. Sweden
26. Slovenia
27. Germany (West)
28. Czech Republic
29. Taiwan
30. Latvia
31. Korea
32. Slovakia
33. Poland
34. Germany (East)
— Associated Press
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mxgoldberg@tribune.com
