Flag Burning Amendment Fails

Republicans in the US Senate are 0 for 2 in the game of "amend the Constitution" this session, with dissenters (66-34) barely preventing passage of a Constitutional Amendment which would have banned "desecrating" the flag. Proponents of the amendment were one vote short.

Known colloquially as the "flag burning amendment," Senate Joint Resolution 12 as amended proposed an amendment to the Constitution which would have authorized Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.

The Milwaukee Journal notes the political nature of this vote in an editorial appropriately titled "To pander and distract." The editors close: "To sum up: There was no flag-burning 'problem.' The bigger problem is still the desire of far too many in Congress to batter free speech to distract voters from what has been a congressional session of breathtaking underachievement."

And The Nation writes:

The most decorated war veteran in the Senate, Hawaii Democrat Dan Inouye opposed the amendment. "This objectionable expression is obscene, it is painful, it is unpatriotic," Inouye said of flag burning. "But, the winner of the Medal of Honor for his service in World War II, told the Senate, "I believe Americans gave their lives in many wars to make certain all Americans have a right to express themselves, even those who harbor hateful thoughts."

The Vote:
Those Senators voting against the amendment (30 Ds, 3 Rs, 1 I): Akaka (D-HI), Bennett (R-UT), Biden (D-DE), Bingaman (D-NM), Boxer (D-CA), Byrd (D-WV), Cantwell (D-WA), Carper (D-DE), Chafee (R-RI), Clinton (D-NY), Conrad (D-ND), Dodd (D-CT), Dorgan (D-ND), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Harkin (D-IA), Inouye (D-HI), Jeffords (I-VT), Kennedy (D-MA), Kerry (D-MA), Kohl (D-WI), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Lieberman (D-CT), McConnell (R-KY), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Obama (D-IL), Pryor (D-AR), Reed (D-RI), Sarbanes (D-MD), Schumer (D-NY) and Wyden (D-OR).

Of those voting for the amendment, 52 were Republicans and 14 were Democrats. The 14 Democrats were Baucus (D-MT), Bayh (D-IN), Dayton (D-MN), Feinstein (D-CA), Johnson (D-SD), Landrieu (D-LA), Lincoln (D-AR), Menendez (D-NJ), Nelson (D-FL), Nelson (D-NE), Reid (D-NV), Rockefeller (D-WV), Salazar (D-CO) and Stabenow (D-MI).

The House passed its version (286-130) last year.

See Flag Desecration Amendment Rejected: Thank God!, History of Flag Burning Laws, Senate to Debate Flag Burning Amendment... Again, Let's Amend the Constitution Time!, How to Amend the Constitution

Updated to add The Nation quote.

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