Foley Sees No Grass-Roots Push for Flag Amendment

While voters are upset over desecration of the American flag, there is no grass-roots “firestorm” for a constitutional amendment against it, House Speaker Thomas S. Foley said Friday as he reaffirmed his belief that Congress should enact a statute instead of amending the Constitution.

“I disagree with the Supreme Court’s recent decision (overturning a conviction for flag desecration),” Foley said in a breakfast session with reporters. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t design a statute that will protect the flag and is constitutional.”

In other comments, the Washington Democrat said partisan fires are cooling in the House and that there is little desire among Democrats for political revenge following the resignations of former Speaker Jim Wright of Texas and House Majority Whip Tony Coelho of Merced.

Restraint on Arts Cuts

Foley also said the House showed “great restraint and intelligence” in its action this week to strip only $45,000 from the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts in reaction to a furor over federal funding for controversial artworks.

On the flag issue, the Speaker predicted that Congress, which already has begun holding hearings on a proposed federal statute, would need only a few weeks to send President Bush a constitutional law banning flag burning. Last month, the Supreme Court overturned a Texas conviction for desecration of the flag, saying it violated freedom of speech.

It would be preferable for Congress to pass a statute instead of tampering with the First Amendment to the Constitution, Foley said, adding that Bush’s strong endorsement of a constitutional amendment “is unwise.”

Senate Report

On the Senate side Friday, Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) said the Senate will act this fall on both a constitutional amendment and a less-sweeping statute. Under a bipartisan agreement, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings and then report both approaches to the full Senate by Sept. 22.

Foley said many House members have told him that constituents were not demanding a constitutional amendment but instead were merely asking that “something be done” to protect the flag.

“There are many people who feel this highly intensely,” Foley said. “But the country as a whole seems to be taking this in a calmer way” than Congress.

If Congress passed a law banning flag desecration, members could require an expedited court review to determine if the law passes constitutional muster, he added.

“If it (the law) does not, what then is lost?” Foley asked. The Speaker said it could be several years before a constitutional amendment is finally approved by two-thirds majorities of both houses of Congress and ratified by at least 38 states.

sh Sees Milder Rhetoric

When asked if Democrats planned to take retaliatory action against House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) for his part in the investigations leading to the resignation of former Speaker Wright, Foley said there is a desire in both parties to tone down partisan rhetoric. Gingrich, who has come under fire for his royalties from a 1984 book deal, led the fight to topple Wright for alleged violations of House ethics rules and also had demanded an ethics inquiry of Coelho before he resigned.

“I don’t think the members of Congress are anxious to take any hostages on either side,” Foley said. “There’s a desire to bring this difficult period to an end. I’ve detected a very healthy change of mood. . . . We’re not experiencing any guerrilla attacks on either side of the legislative trench these days. I think people are tired of this kind of bickering.”

Turning to the arts controversy, Foley praised House members for approving only a $45,000 cut in the NEA budget, saying it was a “triumph of moderation.”

Exhibits Protested

The controversy surfaced several weeks ago when some House members protested federal endowments for an exhibit of photographs by the late Robert Mapplethorpe, some with homoerotic and sexually explicit themes, as well as a traveling art show that included an Andres Serrano work of a crucifix dipped in urine.

“It (the House vote) was not an action of hysteria,” said Foley, noting that his colleagues had rejected separate proposals to cut the agency’s entire $171-million budget or $14 million from its 1990-91 funding.

‘Sent a Message’

Nevertheless, Congress had “sent a message” with its action, he said. “If there wasn’t an action on the photo of the crucifix in urine, I’d be surprised.”

Foley added that an artist “has a right (to expression), but he doesn’t have a claim on a federal grant. People may want to desecrate religious symbols, but there’s no obligation on the part of taxpayers to reward that.”