PRINTER'S NO. 1368
No. 89 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY BELAN, MELLOW, REGOLI, STOUT, STEWART, MUSTO,
AFFLERBACH, PORTERFIELD, BODACK, STAPLETON, REIBMAN,
WILLIAMS, DAWIDA, LEWIS, SCANLON, LINCOLN AND FUMO,
JUNE 27, 1989
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, JUNE 27, 1989
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1 Urging Congress to enact legislation prohibiting the
2 destruction, defacing or mutilation of the American Flag.
3 WHEREAS, The Flag of the United States of America was created
4 during this Country's unyielding struggle for independence and
5 freedom from tyranny; and
6 WHEREAS, The flag came to embody the highest and noblest
7 principles of the American Revolution; and
8 WHEREAS, The sight of the flag continuing to fly over Fort
9 McHenry after a failed British attack during the War of 1812
10 inspired Francis Scott Key to pen the words to what is now our
11 national anthem; and
12 WHEREAS, In defense of the flag, millions of American
13 citizens have been killed, maimed and wounded in wartime and
14 peacetime to uphold the standards of freedom and justice for all
15 which are embodied in the flag; and
16 WHEREAS, Today the American Flag stands as an internationally
17 recognized banner for freedom and democracy and the sacrifices
1 that American citizens have made to give these ideals to the
2 world; and
3 WHEREAS, In recognition of the flag's institutional
4 importance, 48 states of the United States have made it a
5 criminal offense to improperly destroy, deface or otherwise
6 mutilate the American Flag; and
7 WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court, in a case named
8 Texas v. Johnson, held that laws prohibiting the improper
9 destruction or mutilation were an unconstitutional violation of
10 freedom of speech; therefore be it
11 RESOLVED (the House of Representatives concurring), That the
12 General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby
13 urges, in the strongest terms possible, the Congress of the
14 United States to enact legislation which would respond to the
15 Supreme Court decision in Texas v. Johnson by prohibiting the
16 improper destruction, defacing or mutilation of the American
17 Flag in public; and be it further
18 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
19 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
20 member of Congress from Pennsylvania; and be it further
21 RESOLVED, That notice of this resolution be sent to the
22 Commonwealth's sister states urging that they likewise request
23 that the Congress of the United States to enact legislation to
24 protect the American Flag.
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