House Rejects GOP Bid to Start With Pledge Daily

Presidential politics overtook the House today when Democrats killed a Republican proposal to begin each day with the Pledge of Allegiance, then came back with a plan to recite the pledge twice next week.

Rep. John G. Rowland (R-Conn.), using one of GOP nominee George Bush’s frequent campaign themes, started it all with a resolution calling on the Speaker or his designee to lead House members in a daily recitation of the pledge.

Rowland noted that the pledge is routinely recited in classrooms, at athletic events and elsewhere, and declared: “It’s about time that we set a good public example of our love and our patriotism for our great nation by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance each morning in this chamber.”

Bush has repeatedly attacked his Democratic rival, Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, for vetoing a bill that would have penalized teachers who did not lead their classes in the pledge. Dukakis said he had been advised by the state Supreme Court that the bill was unconstitutional.

Rep. Kenneth J. Gray (D-Ill.), presiding over the House at the time, said the Rowland’s resolution would change House rules and therefore was not in order. Rowland appealed the ruling, but the House agreed 226-168 to let it stand.

Seven Democrats joined every Republican present in voting with Rowland.

Wright Defends Ruling

Lest the Democrats be perceived as anti-pledge, House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.), then made an unusual appearance on the floor to defend Gray’s parliamentary ruling and accuse the GOP of trying to play politics with the pledge.

“All of us embrace the Pledge of Allegiance, but it is important that all of us recognize that the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag is something intended to unite us, not intended to divide us,” Wright said. He got a standing ovation from cheering colleagues.

Wright said he will ask Reps. G. V. (Sonny) Montgomery (D-Miss.), chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, and Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) to lead the pledge on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Lewis said he will keep trying to bring Rowland’s resolution to the floor. What is needed is “a full-scale debate on the Pledge of Allegiance,” he said.