FLAG PROTECTION

AMVETS believes the American flag is a sacred symbol that represents our nation and democracy around the world. Being such an important symbol, we think the American people have the right to protect the flag from desecration. We seek to overturn a 1989 Supreme Court decision that allows the U.S. flag to be burned, torn, trampled, or otherwise physically desecrated under the guise of free speech.

Since the Court’s 5 to 4 decision, the only way the American people can reclaim their right to protect Old Glory is through a constitutional amendment. Such an amendment, which AMVETS strongly supports, provides that “Congress shall have the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.”

The flag amendment legislation passed the House of Representatives in this, the 108th, Congress. It has more than 60 supporters in the U.S. Senate, 57 of whom are official cosponsors of Senate Joint Resolution 4, the flag protection constitutional amendment. Sixty-seven votes are needed to get the measure off of Capitol Hill and into the legislatures of the fifty states for ratification. AMVETS calls on Members of the 108th Congress to approve the flag protection amendment.