Representing North Carolina’s Ninth District                                                                        

REP. MYRICK VOTES TO PROTECT THE AMERICAN FLAG FROM DESECRATION

(Washington, D.C.) – Yesterday, US Representative Sue Myrick (NC-9) voted for H.J. Res. 10, which would propose amending the Constitution so that Congress would have the authority to prohibit the physical desecration of the American flag.  Congress has acted because all 50 states have passed resolutions calling on Congress to pass a flag protection amendment.

  “The American flag is a symbol of what we stand for: liberty, democracy, and justice,” said Rep. Myrick.  “Men have fought and died under our flag and it is only fitting that we honor their sacrifices by making sure no one desecrates our flag again.”

 In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. Johnson that burning a flag is protected under the first amendment as freedom of speech.  This decision flew in the face of 48 states that had laws on their books preventing physical desecration of the American flag.  In response to this decision, Congress passed the “Flag Protection Act of 1989.”  However, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the law in 1990 as unconstitutional.   

 Because of the Supreme Court’s decisions, a constitutional amendment provides the only remaining option to restore protection to our Nation’s flag.  The Flag Protection Amendment states that “The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.”  This ensures that no court can overturn the right of Congress to legislate on this matter. 

 This resolution passed the House by more than a two-thirds majority at 286-130.  The Senate must also pass the bill with more than a two-thirds majority.  Then, three-fourths of the states must ratify the amendment.  If the amendment passes through this process then Congress will work on specific laws that will actually prevent the desecration of the flag.  

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