WEDNESDAY,JULY 18,2001
NATION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 7A
Senate to vote on flag-burning amendment
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the fourth time in six years, the House endorsed a constitutional amendment to protect the American flag from desecration.
Once again, however, the effort to amend the Constitution for only the 18th time since the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791 faces likely defeat in the Senate.
The House voted 298-125 for the one-sentence article stating that "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."
If the amendment wins a two-thirds majority in the Senate and is approved by three-fourths of state legislatures, it would overturn 1989 and 1990 Supreme
Court rulings that flag-burning and other acts of desecration were protected under First Amendment free speech rights.
Supporters argued that abusing the national symbol went far beyond free speech protections. "Vandalizing a no-parking sign is a misdemeanor, but burning a flag is a hate crime, because burning the flag is an expression of contempt for the moral unity of the American people," said Rep. Henry Hyde, R-III.
Opponents argued that it would be a serious mistake to limit First Amendment rights for the first time in the nation's history to ban an act that rarely occurs. "I deplore desecration of the flag in any form," said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich, but "I am
strongly opposed to this resolution because it ... elevates a symbol of freedom over freedom itself."
Debate over the flag amendment has been almost an annual occurrence in recent years, arising out of a 5-4 Supreme Court decision in 1989 that flag-burning was a protected free-speech right. That ruling overturned a 1968 federal statute and flag protection laws in 48 states.
In 1990, Congress passed another law protecting the flag, but the Supreme Court that year, in another 5-4 ruling, struck it down as unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court "overruled 200 years of tradition," said Rep Randy, "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., sponsor of the resolution
with Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.
"We're working to correct an error of the Supreme Court," said retired Gen. Patrick Brady, chairman of Citizens Flag Alliance, a coalition of civic and veterans groups pushing the flag amendment.
But Gregory Nojeim of the American Civil Liberties Union, a main opponent of the amendment, said the failure of supporters to get 300 votes showed a "serious decline" in the amendment movement. "More members of Congress than ever have recognized their duty to protect the freedom to dissent in America."
The House approved flag amendments in 1995, 1997 and 1999, all by more than 300 votes. But the Senate, in votes in 1995
and 2000, each time came up with only 63 votes, four short of the two-thirds majority needed.
This year, with Democrats taking over control of the Senate, the resolution is not expected to pass. The new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is a leading opponent of the amendment, unlike his predecessor Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a chief proponent.
Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., and other Democrats offered an alternative stating that Congress could prohibit desecration of the flag as long as its action was not inconsistent with the First Amendment. It was defeated 324-100.
House protects employees' contraceptive policy
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican-controlled House committee voted yesterday to let federal workers' health-insurance plans continue covering prescription contraceptives, ignoring President Bush's proposal to halt the practice.
The House Appropriations Committee's overwhelming 40-21 vote, including 12 Republicans who voted "yes," would directly affect only 1.2 million female federal employees of childbearing age. Even so, the action was a setback for Bush and seemed to draw a line on how far Congress' anti-abortion forces can go.
In a subsequent vote, however,
conservatives won a round when
the committee used a near party line 33-26 vote to bar federal workers' health plans from paying for abortions. That prohibition has been enacted annually since 1995.
The votes came as the appropriations committee used voice votes to approve a pair of spending bills for fiscal 2002, which begins Oct. 1. Included was $1.3 billion for next year to cover ongoing costs of Tropical Storm Allison and other natural disasters.
The sponsor of the contraceptives provision, Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., appealed for support to abortion foes by arguing that the use of contraceptives can prevent unwanted births.
abortion-rights advocate.
"There are too many abortions in this country," said Lowe, an
In his budget last spring, Bush proposed eliminating contraceptive coverage for civil servants, arguing it wasn't needed because many federal health-insurance plans already covered prescription contraceptives. Opponents said yesterday that the provision would add to the government's costs of providing health care coverage to its workers.
"You cannot have a mandate without increasing costs," said Rep. Ernest Iskook, R-Okla.
Contraceptive coverage for federal workers has been enacted annually for the past three years, while President Clinton was in office.
Civil servants have more than 200 health plans to choose from.
Before Lowey's provision was first enacted, 19 percent of the health plans covered all prescription contraceptives, while 10 percent did not cover any. The pill, intrauterine devices, the diaphragm, Norplant and DepProvera are the most commonly used prescription birth-control devices.
Currently, two are exempted from providing contraceptive coverage for religious reasons.
The two spending bills the committee approved were a $32.7 billion measure covering the Treasury Department and the White House's executive offices, and a $111.4 billion bill covering veterans, housing, science and environmental programs.
In approving the two bills, the committee:
By voice vote, included $1.3 billion to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency's rapidly dwindling coffers. The measure was sponsored by House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, whose Houston district was deluged in June by floods spawned by Allison's rains. DeLay said he hoped the funds will be shifted to a separate, compromise measure covering the remaining months of fiscal 2001, which House-Senate bargainers are crafting.
- By voice vote, agreed to give federal civilian workers a 4.6 percent pay raise next year, the same as military personnel are due to receive.
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