00                       HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 30                                                                     
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                                     
15 invasion, symbolized the stand of a young and brave nation against the mighty world power                               
16 of that day and, in its courageous resilience, inspired our national anthem; and                                        
01       WHEREAS, in the Second World War, the American Flag was the banner that led the                                 
02 American battle against fascist imperialism from the depths of Pearl Harbor to the                                      
03 mountaintop on Iwo Jima, and from defeat in North Africa's Kasserine Pass to victory in the                             
04 streets of Hitler's Germany; and                                                                                        
05       WHEREAS Alaska's star was woven into the fabric of the Flag in 1959, and that 49th                              
06 star has become an integral part of the Union; and                                                                      
07       WHEREAS the American Flag symbolizes the ideals that good and decent people                                     
08 fought for in Vietnam, often at the expense of their lives or at the cost of cruel condemnation                         
09 upon their return home; and                                                                                             
10       WHEREAS the American Flag symbolizes the sacred values for which loyal                                          
11 Americans risked and often lost their lives in securing civil rights for all Americans,                                 
12 regardless of race, sex, or creed; and                                                                                  
13       WHEREAS the American Flag was carried to the moon as a banner of goodwill,                                      
14 vision, and triumph on behalf of all mankind; and                                                                       
15       WHEREAS the American Flag was raised by New York City fire fighters atop the                                    
16 rubble of the World Trade Center and became the symbol of a nation challenged as it had                                 
17 never been before; and                                                                                                  
18       WHEREAS the American Flag to this day is a most honorable and worthy banner of a                                
19 nation that is thankful for its strengths and committed to curing its faults and remains the                            
20 destination of millions of immigrants attracted by the universal power of the American ideal;                           
21 and                                                                                                                     
22       WHEREAS the law as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court no longer                                     
23 accords to the Stars and Stripes that reverence, respect, and dignity befitting the banner of that                      
24 most noble experiment of a nation-state; and                                                                            
25       WHEREAS House Joint Resolution 36, which passed the United States House of                                      
26 Representatives and has been referred to the United States Senate, proposes an amendment to                             
27 the United States Constitution stating, "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the                                  
28 physical desecration of the flag of the United States"; and                                                             
29       WHEREAS Senate Joint Resolution 7, introduced in the United States Senate,                                      
30 proposes an amendment to the United States Constitution stating, "The Congress shall have                               
31 power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States"; and                                       
01       WHEREAS it is only fitting that people everywhere should lend their voices to a                                 
02 forceful call for restoration to the Stars and Stripes of a proper station under law and decency;                       
03       BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the Congress of the United                                  
04 States is requested to pass House Joint Resolution 36 or Senate Joint Resolution 7, or                                  
05 comparable legislation, and present to the legislatures of the several states an amendment to                           
06 the Constitution of the United States that would specifically provide the Congress power to                             
07 prohibit the physical desecration of the Flag of the United States; this request does not                               
08 constitute a call for a constitutional convention; and be it                                                            
09       FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislatures of the several states are invited to join                                
10 with Alaska to secure ratification of the proposed amendment.                                                           
11       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-                               
12 President of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Thomas                                   
13 Daschle, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the                            
14 U.S. House of Representatives; the governors of each of the several states; the presiding                               
15 officers of each house of the legislatures of the several states; and to the Honorable Ted                              
16 Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, United States Senators, and the Honorable Don                                
17 Young, United States Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.