Veterans Say Freedom of Speech Must Remain Unimpeded As Senate Panel Approves Flag Desecration Amendment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gary May
info@veteransdefending.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 14, 2006) — In recognition of Flag Day, a time Americans celebrate not just the stars and stripes, but even more, the hard-fought freedoms the flag represents, members of Veterans Defending the Bill of Rights (VDBR) urged the Senate to reject S.J. Res. 12, a constitutional amendment that would ban desecration of the flag.
“To respect the flag means above all to cherish the principles of freedoms for which it stands,” said Gary May, VDBR chairman. “Weakening the Bill of Rights to protect the flag from desecration defies everything the flag stands for. This Flag Day, VDBR is asking all Americans to urge their senators to oppose S.J.Res.12 and protect the Constitution and the liberties that define our great democracy.”
Senators, including Patrick Leahy, (D-VT), Russ Feingold, (D-WI), and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) joined members of VDBR in voicing their opposition to the proposal that would be the first change ever to the Bill of Rights.p>
“We thank all of the Senators who are here with us today for their support, and hope that their colleagues will join them in standing for the First Amendment,” May added.
The Senate is expected to consider the Flag Desecration Amendment in the coming weeks. VDBR noted that the vote remains perilously close, with the amendment standing one vote away from passage.
Other members of VDBR also expressed their opposition to the amendment.
“Amending the Constitution to limit Americans’ freedom of speech is a misguided and dangerous use of the time and resources of Congress,” said Keith Kreul, past national commander of the American Legion. “Members of the Senate should be fighting for real veterans’ issues, not symbolic attacks on the Constitution.”
“Americans should not be persuading the government to pass oppressive laws to prevent the physical desecration of the flag. As a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran with two Purple Hearts, who spent five and a half years in a Communist P.O.W. camp, I cherish the flag. But even more than the cloth of the flag itself, I cherish the freedoms for which it stands,” said James Warner, former domestic policy advisor to President Ronald Reagan.
“I am profoundly disturbed by the apparent willingness of Congress to sacrifice our own freedoms here at home by amending the First Amendment for the first time ever,” said Jeremy Broussard, a former Captain in the U.S. Army and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. “When the coalition forces entered Iraq, it was to topple a brutal and repressive dictatorship, one that did not hesitate to jail and torture its own citizens who protested against it. By amending the Constitution to ban a form of expression, Congress dishonors the legacy of servicemembers who fought and died in defense of freedom.”
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Veterans Defending the Bill of Rights is a network of U.S. military veterans founded in 1999 to oppose a constitutional amendment to outlaw flag “desecration” and to fight to preserve Americans’ First Amendment freedoms. For more information visit www.veteransdefending.org.
