WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley has cosponsored a joint resolution that would amend the U.S. Constitution to prohibit the physical desecration of the American flag. The resolution was introduced today with 16 cosponsors.
“No other image depicts as clearly the freedoms and ideals of our country than the American flag. It’s the symbol our men and women in uniform have fought for over 200 years,” Grassley said. “The American flag has been proudly flown in times of battle, of victory, and of national tragedy. It is the most recognized symbol of freedom and democracy in the world.”
The resolution is the first step in proposing a constitutional amendment. A proposed amendment can take one of two forms. If it is initiated by Congress, the amendment must pass the House of Representatives and Senate with two-thirds vote of each chamber. The other process is when two-thirds of the legislatures of the states call for a Convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution. In either case, amendments agreed to by the Congress or the Constitutional Convention must be ratified by three-fourths of the legislatures of the several states.
Grassley said that the American flag should be protected from those who would desecrate it and demonstrate a basic lack of respect for our national heritage.
Grassley was a cosponsor of a similar resolution in the 109th Congress as well as in previous Congresses. The 2006 amendment passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, but fell one vote short of the two-thirds of the Senate needed for the amendment to be sent to the states for ratification.
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