Flag Bill on Fast Track to Exclude Amendment

House Democrats, moving to preempt President Bush’s proposal for a constitutional amendment to prohibit flag burning, scheduled a vote today in the House Judiciary Committee on alternative legislation favored by Speaker Thomas S. Foley of Washington.

If, as expected, the legislation is approved by the committee, Foley said that it would be sent to the House floor next week so that members of Congress could vote to protect the flag before returning home during the August recess.

Although Bush and many Republicans have argued that a statute would not overcome the constitutional protections that the Supreme Court recently cited for flag burning as a form of protest, Foley said that public opinion is moving his way on the issue.

“There isn’t the firestorm of support for a constitutional amendment that some people had predicted,” Foley told reporters. “There is a growing opinion that a statute is preferable to a constitutional amendment.”

At the White House, Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater reiterated Bush’s view that only an amendment would resolve the issue. But Fitzwater declined to say whether the President would veto a bill to ban flag desecration if Congress approves it.

“The only way to protect the flag is through a constitutional amendment,” Fitzwater said. “If Congress is serious about protecting the flag, they will move quickly to send to the states for ratification the bipartisan amendment.”

The measure coming up for a committee vote is sponsored by Rep. Jack Brooks (D-Tex.), chairman of the panel, and Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose), chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on civil and constitutional rights, which conducted five hearings on the controversial ruling by the Supreme Court.

Brooks’ bill would make it a crime to deface the flag, regardless of the motive or political message of those involved, he said. A specific exception would be made for disposal of worn or soiled flags.

In addition, the bill includes a provision to allow expedited Supreme Court review of any issue of constitutionality that might be raised if the bill becomes law.

Sponsors of the legislation said that it would overcome the high court’s objections to the Texas statute banning flag burning as a means of protest, the law at the center of its June decision.

The bill also narrows the legal definition of a flag, so that reproductions of the flag on paper cups, for example, would not be covered.

Asked if Republicans who favor a constitutional amendment might try to block passage of the legislation, Edwards replied: “It’s pretty hard for people to vote against protecting the flag.”

Many Republicans, however, indicated that they would vote for the legislation and still pursue their efforts to get Congress to approve an amendment to the Constitution to make sure that flag burning is forbidden.

A bill requires passage by a majority of both the House and Senate and the President’s signature, indicating approval. A constitutional amendment, in contrast, must be approved by both chambers on a two-thirds vote and then ratified by 38 of the 50 state legislatures.