Flag Amendment Revived

Cheering and waving small flags under a gray sky, supporters of a constitutional amendment to ban burning and desecration of the American flag staged a rally at the Capitol on Tuesday.

Led by Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., Sen. Howell Heflin, D-Ala., and other lawmakers, about 1,500 people crammed the Capitol steps and terraces to launch a campaign for the flag amendment.

Solomon said the rally “will begin the grassroots effort to once and for all put an end to the disrespect and desecration of the symbol of our country, Old Glory.”

To amend the Constitution, proponents must win a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate as well as ratification by threequarters of the states. That effort, initiated after the Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag-burning is protected under the First Amendment, has fallen short.