Please help protect the symbol of our nation

Forty-eight states had laws protecting the flag of our nation from physical desecration. These laws were negated in 1989, by a vote of 5-4, when the Supreme Court ruled that burning the flag of the United States is free speech. That decision went against five previous Supreme Court rulings. So many people were outraged by this lack of respect for the symbol of our nation, that a petition drive to collect 1 million American voters' signatures was launched. The goal was reached and in August 1989 petitions were presented to Congress. In October 1989 a federal statute to protect the flag became law. On the day the new flag-protection law went into effect Shawn Eichmann publicly burned an American flag in protest and was immediately arrested. She was convicted of flag desecration - her appeal was the instrument that challenged the constitutionality of the newly enacted Flag Protection Act of 1989. In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the federal law unconstitutional; declaring it was in conflict with the First Amendment. Again, the vote was 5-4. The US Supreme Court has made it perfectly clear that the only way to protect the U. S. flag from intentional physical desecration is through a constitutional amendment.

Those who drafted the U. S. Constitution realized that changes would be necessary and provided a process to do so. In fact, it is the only way "we the people" have to change a Supreme Court ruling; because, the court answers to the Constitution not to Congress. When the Bill of Rights was ratified it actually amended the Constitution 10 times. Amendments are what gave voting privileges to African- Americans, women, and 18-year-olds.

Violent acts such as defecating on, burning, spitting on, or tearing are not speech. Fifty states and the District of Columbia have sent resolutions to Congress asking them to pass a flag-protection amendment. In 25 years the wording has not changed. "Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States." The amendment has once again been introduced in both House and Senate; they are referred to as: House Joint Resolution 17 (HJR 47) and Senate Joint Resolution 17 (SJR) 17).

The real victims of flag burning are our children. The greatest tragedy in flag mutilation is the disrespect it teaches our children - disrespect for the values it embodies, and disrespect to those who have sacrificed for those values. Disrespect is the genesis of hate; it provokes the dissolution of our unity - a unity for which a symbol is the U.S. flag.

The first U.S. flag was raised in 1776, the Constitution was ratified in 1788, and the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. Those who drafted the U.S. Constitution realized that changes would be necessary and provided a process to do so. In fact, it is the only way "we the people" have to change a Supreme Court ruling; because, the court answers to the Constitution not to Congress. When the Bill of Rights was ratified it actually amended the Constitution 10 times. Amendments are what gave voting privileges to African-Americans, women, and 18-year-olds.

The flag of our country deserves protection from intentional physical desecration; and the people have the right to decide the issue through the ratification process. Please call and/or write members of Congress and reeducate them as to why our founding fathers wrote the Constitution as they did - it was intended to be, and is, a living document. Remind members of Congress that their affirmative vote on the amendment will put the decision where it should be - in the hands of the people. Remember the entire Congress represents us and we have the right, the duty, to inform them of our opinion and ask their support. I urge you to contact more than just Washington state members.

Henry Ward Beecher said, "A thoughtful mind, when it sees a nation's flag, sees not the flag but the nation itself." America was among the first countries to institute a pledge of allegiance; not to honor a piece of cloth or a party or a potentate, but to honor a set of values. President Woodrow Wilson said, "this flag which we honor and under which we serve is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation. The choice is ours."

Please make your choice that of protecting our nation's symbol from intentional physical desecration. Write and/or call your congressmen, urge them to vote yes; and, ask your friends, relatives, and neighbors to do the same.