Bill Against Flag Burning OKd by House Panel, 28-6

Displaying more political guile than patriotic fervor, the Democrat-dominated House Judiciary Committee voted, 28 to 6, Thursday to make flag burning a statutory crime, after a Republican proposal for a constitutional amendment to protect the flag was rejected.

Democratic leaders had planned to ram the bill through the House next week in defiance of President Bush’s assertion that nothing less than revising the First Amendment would protect Old Glory now that the Supreme Court has struck down a Texas law against flag desecration.

But Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) and his aides decided to postpone a vote until after the House returns from its summer recess in September to prevent GOP members from raising parliamentary objections to such rapid action.

Bush Silent on Veto

Committee approval of the bill sets the stage for a possible showdown later in the year. The Senate is scheduled to consider both a statutory ban and a constitutional amendment in October. President Bush has not said whether he will veto a flag-burning law if Congress snubs the proposed change in the Constitution.

Underlying the maneuvers are unpleasant Democratic memories of how Bush exploited public support for the flag in his 1988 campaign against Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, who vetoed a bill requiring teachers to lead the Pledge of Allegiance in school.

One Democrat on the Judiciary panel who voted against the bill, Rep. George W. Crockett Jr. of Michigan, complained that members of his party have been “running scared” on the flag issue ever since.

“A statute doesn’t work,” said Rep. Chuck Douglas (R-N.H.), who also voted against the bill. “(Democrats) are just trying to get this monkey off their back.”

Democratic Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan tried without success to strike a blow at the Ku Klux Klan by making cross burning a federal crime, too. “Cross burnings for centuries have been more of a problem in the United States than flag burnings,” Conyers contended.

But Rep. Jack Brooks (D-Tex.), the committee’s crusty chairman, ruled Conyers’ amendment out of order, along with a proposed constitutional amendment introduced by Douglas.

Brooks and Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose) insisted that enacting a law would be a more prudent way to make flag burning a crime than changing the Bill of Rights.

“The flag is sturdy,” Edwards said. “The Constitution, however, is fragile and can be wounded by the votes of legislators caught up in the emotional whirlwinds of the moment.”

Although few members of Congress appear to know how widespread flag burning has been in recent years, the consensus is that there ought to be a law against it.

A group of Republican lawmakers recently rushed to the Capitol plaza, equipped with fire extinguishers and buckets of water, on the suspicion that a public interest group might be planning to set fire to a flag in the shadow of the Dome. However, the emergency fire brigade found no flames.

Not to be outdone, a group of Democrats led by House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri appeared before reporters Thursday with a flag that was flying over the Capitol when Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941, and later flew over the battleship Missouri during the surrender of Japan, which ended World War II.

Noting that a flag protection law could be enacted quickly but a constitutional amendment would require ratification by 38 of the 50 states, Gephardt said: “Ironically, the people who pose as the most vigilant supporters of flag protection advocate a process that invites the most delay.”

However, Brooks showed scorn for such an amendment. “It will decorate the Constitution with yet another quill in a porcupine’s body,” he said.