00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 59                                                                                         
01 Relating to an amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibiting                                           
02 desecration of the Flag of the United States.                                                                           
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
04  WHEREAS certain actions, although arguably related to one person's free expression,                                  
05 nevertheless raise issues concerning public decency, public peace, and the rights of expression                         
06 and sacred values of others; and                                                                                        
07  WHEREAS there are symbols of our national soul, such as the Washington                                               
08 Monument, the United States Capitol Building, and memorials to our greatest leaders, that are                           
09 the property of every American and are therefore worthy of protection from desecration and                              
10 dishonor; and                                                                                                           
11  WHEREAS the American Flag was most nobly born in the struggle for independence                                       
12 that began with "The Shot Heard Round the World" on a bridge in Concord, Massachusetts;                                 
13 and                                                                                                                     
14  WHEREAS, in the War of 1812, the American Flag stood boldly against foreign                                          

01 invasion, symbolized the stand of a young and brave nation against the mighty world power                               
02 of that day and, in its courageous resilience, inspired our national anthem; and                                        
03  WHEREAS, in the Second World War, the American Flag was the banner that led the                                      
04 American battle against fascist imperialism from the depths of Pearl Harbor to the                                      
05 mountaintop on Iwo Jima, and from defeat in North Africa's Kasserine Pass to victory in the                             
06 streets of Hitler's Germany; and                                                                                        
07  WHEREAS Alaska's star was woven into the fabric of the Flag in 1959, and that 49th                                   
08 star has become an integral part of the Union; and                                                                      
09  WHEREAS the American Flag symbolizes the ideals that good and decent people                                          
10 fought for in Vietnam, often at the expense of their lives or at the cost of cruel condemnation                         
11 upon their return home; and                                                                                             
12  WHEREAS the American Flag symbolizes the sacred values for which loyal                                               
13 Americans risked and often lost their lives in securing civil rights for all Americans, regardless                      
14 of race, sex, or creed; and                                                                                             
15  WHEREAS the American Flag was carried to the moon as a banner of goodwill,                                           
16 vision, and triumph on behalf of all mankind; and                                                                       
17  WHEREAS the American Flag proudly represents the United States at Olympic                                            
18 events; and                                                                                                             
19  WHEREAS the American Flag to this day is a most honorable and worthy banner of                                       
20 a nation that is thankful for its strengths and committed to curing its faults and remains the                          
21 destination of millions of immigrants attracted by the universal power of the American ideal;                           
22 and                                                                                                                     
23  WHEREAS the law as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court no longer                                          
24 accords to the Stars and Stripes that reverence, respect, and dignity befitting the banner of that                      
25 most noble experiment of a nation-state; and                                                                            
26  WHEREAS House Joint Resolution 54, which passed the United States House of                                           
27 Representatives and has been referred to the United States Senate, proposes an amendment to                             
28 the United States Constitution stating, "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical                         
29 desecration of the flag of the United States"; and                                                                      
30  WHEREAS Senate Joint Resolution 40, introduced in the United States Senate,                                          
31 proposes an amendment to the United States Constitution stating, "The Congress shall have                               

01 power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States"; and                                       
02  WHEREAS it is only fitting that people everywhere should lend their voices to a                                      
03 forceful call for restoration to the Stars and Stripes of a proper station under law and decency;                       
04  BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the Congress of the United                                       
05 States is requested to pass House Joint Resolution 54 or Senate Joint Resolution 40, or                                 
06 comparable legislation, and present to the legislatures of the several states an amendment to                           
07 the Constitution of the United States that would specifically provide the Congress power to                             
08 prohibit the physical desecration of the Flag of the United States; this request does not                               
09 constitute a call for a constitutional convention; and be it                                                            
10  FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislatures of the several states are invited to join                                     
11 with Alaska to secure ratification of the proposed amendment.                                                           
12  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President                                
13 of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Trent Lott, Majority                               
14 Leader of the U.S. Senate; to the Honorable Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                 
15 Representatives; the governors of each of the several states; the presiding officers of each                            
16 house of the legislatures of the several states; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the                               
17 Honorable Frank Murkowski, United States Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, United                                  
18 States Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.