Hearings on Flag Amendment Next Week, House Aides Say

Congressional hearings on President Bush’s constitutional amendment to prevent flag desecration will begin next week before a panel where most members either oppose the move or are skeptical, House aides said today.

Staff members of the House Judiciary constitutional rights subcommittee said the first of a lengthy set of hearings on the issue will be held next Thursday. Witnesses are likely to be constitutional law scholars, although a final list is not complete.

The chairman of the subcommittee, Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose) has been one of the most vocal critics of Bush’s proposal to change the Constitution in response to the Supreme Court decision that flag burning is a constitutionally protected form of free speech.

Although skeptical, Edwards has not, however, expressed the same strong reservations about passing a law that would try to accomplish the same goal. The Senate has passed such legislation, but Bush has said he does not believe it is possible to adequately address the Supreme Court’s ruling through a law.

Opponents of the amendment plan have said they fear that placing a limit on First Amendment rights of free speech would be a bad precedent and could prompt further erosion of citizens’ liberties.

House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.), who also has questioned the wisdom of changing the Constitution because of the flag issue, has said the hearings will be “deliberate” but not obstructionist. He has promised that Congress will take some action on the matter.