Mr. Chairman, I will mention here just a few of the many editorials that have appeared in the newspapers in my district strongly supporting my bill, and if it is permissible to you, Mr. Chairman, instead of reading the editorials, I shall offer them for admission into the record. Mr. ROGERS. They will be received in the record. (The document referred to follows:) On April 16 of last year, the Bristol Virginia-Tennessean editorialized: "Did you ever think you'd see the day when the American flag would have to be protected from Americans? "Or an enemy flag would be openly and proudly displayed by curious characters who at least profess to be Americans? "Well, the day is here. "How do you like it? "And why are we so strangely tolerant of it? "Do we really believe that any American-regardless of race, nationality, creed, color or motive-has the right to tear down or tear up Old Glory? "Do we really believe that any American-regardless of personal views or convictions-has the right to choose the Viet Cong flag over the Stars and Stripes? "Such acts of near-treason cannot be excused or condoned on the basis of any cause or any ideology, no matter how just or how sincere. "It is tragic and outrageous for one American to defile and sneer at his country's flag at the very moment another American is dying to defend it. "Is this the freedom we are fighting for?" Mr. QUILLEN. On April 16 of last year, the Bristol Virginia-Tennessean editorialized-and I submit the editorial for the record. Three weeks later, the Bristol Herald Courier commented that my bill "has in it the essence of good, old-fashioned patriotism." While the Morristown Gazette-Mail stated that "if there is one thing we must have in this land of ours it is respect for the flag." There are two other editorials which I would like to quote in full and which appeared in the Kingsport Times of Kingsport, Tenn., my hometown, last May and July, and I will offer them for the record. Mr. ROGERS. They will be received for the record. (The documents referred to follow :) There stands north of Arlington National Cemetery a bronze statue which is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the nation's capital. The figures depict the historic raising of the Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima during World War II. However, it also represents the thousands of Americans who have died defending this flag. It is hard for loyal citizens of this nation to stomach the abuse and disgrace that some would-be Americans have heaped upon this banner. It has been burned, spat upon, torn up, defouled, and made the object of ridicule by these unpatriotic characters. Yet, they run to it for protection when they claim their "rights" are being violated. It is for these reasons we heartily endorse a bill that has been introduced in Congress aimed at punishing those who desecrate our flag. This is a bill that every congressman and senator can and should support. Those who do not should have to answer to their constituents back home at election time. Of course, a great many people do not show the proper respect for the flag. Men will stand with their heads covered as it passes by and women will fail to recognize it by placing their hands over their heart in salute. Mr. QUILLEN. Gentlemen, is it because we have failed to show respect in the litle ways that this editorial mentions that we have come to let the disrespect go to such extremes as burning our flag? Do we not still proudly say with the poet, "Hats off! The flag is passing by!" Blue and crimson and white it shines, Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great, Weary marches and sinking ships; Days of plenty and years of peace; Stately honor and reverend awe; Sign of a nation, great and strong To ward her people from foreign wrong; Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums; The flag is passing by. This poem by Henry Holcomb Bennett may be called old-fashioned patriotism, but I say we need more, lots more, of it. The second editorial from the Kingsport Times, I offer for the record, Mr. Chairman. Mr. ROGERS. It will be received. (The document referred to follows:) When it comes to silly arguments, about the silliest to come to our attention in a long time is the one that the proposal of a federal law to bid for and punish desecration of the American Flag might "violate the constitutional guarantee of free speech." Any member of the Congress entertaining such a theory, as ground for legal objection, is fabricating his own gnat to strain at. There may be a relationship between words and actions of infamy-as between cause and effect-but they are not legally one and the same thing. Technically, and in the eyes of the law, there is a difference between saying "Let's burn the house down," and setting fire to it. The Flag has been desecrated time and again in this era of rampant hooliganism and apparently privileged seditious mischief. Subversive characters have spat on it, walked on it, burned it, and torn it to shreds. They thereby were showing contempt not only for Old Glory, but for the thousands of young Americans who are fighting and dying for it. Yet with a spate of measures before Congress to make that offense a federal crime, there still is no national law against it. The culprits go free! For postage stamp irregularity you can go to jail. For mutilating money, penalties are attached-and nobody arises (or should) to suggest that punishment infringes the offender's "right" to talk himself blue (or Red) in the face. The law proposed-and co-sponsored by our own Congressman, Jimmy Quil len-is eminently in order. One with teeth should be enacted and enforced to the letter. Mr. QUILLEN. Mr. Chairman, I think this editorial brings up a very good point, that of the fact that we punish people for mishandling our postage and money, but not for what they do to our national flag that flag that President Woodrow Wilson described as "the embodiment, not of sentiment, but of history." He said: It represents the experiences made by men and women, the experiences of those who die and live under that flag. Or as Henry Ward Beecher wrote: A thoughtful mind, when it sees a Nation's flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself, and whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the Government, the principles, the truths, the history which belongs to the Nation that sets it forth. We have specific Federal laws which govern the display of our flag, and these laws are written in great detail. On June 22, 1942, the President of the United States approved a joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives codifying existing customs and rules governing the display and use of the flag of the United States of America by civilians. It seems strange to me that we have never as yet adopted a law to specify what should be done when these statutes are not kept or when the flag receives even worse treatment. In earlier times, it was thought better to kill anyone who would harm the American flag rather than let it be mistreated in any way. In an official dispatch to the Treasury Officer in New Orleans in 1861, John Adams Dix said: If anyone attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot. I do not think we need to go that far, but we must not let anyone who would harm our flag go scott free. We must consider the morale of our people here at home, our fighting forces in Vietnam, as well as world reaction. I think we can safely say that no national flag is as easily recognized around the world as the American flag. It is difficult to demand apologies from other countries in which our flag is burned and torn to shreds, when we do nothing here at home when the same thing happens. All those who do respect our land and our flag must wonder why we ourselves do not care more. I don't think it is at all accurate to say that we are unconcerned, but I do feel that we have not been concerned enough. If we had been, we would have passed this legislation long ago, and thus prevented the humiliating experiences witnessed in our cities in the past months. And at this point, Mr. Chairman, I want to congratulate you for holding these hearings, and the members of your committee for being here this morning. My sincere congratulations. Let us not tarry any longer. Let us rally 'round the flag. Let us rededicate ourselves to the principles of freedom. Let us not forget the sacrifices made by the hundreds of thousands who have died so that this flag we all love so dearly can forever wave over our land. Let us enact this legislation and put a stop to any further desecration of our flag. Mr. Chairman, I urgently request that H.R. 6385 be approved by this committee and the full committee and that it be sent to the floor for final approval as quickly as possible. Mr. Chairman, I repeat the prayer that the Chaplain of the Senate recently offered when he blessed a flag that was sent to Vietnam: God of our Fathers, whose love divine hath led us in the past: be Thou our ruler, guardian, guide and stay. We lift this day our jubilate for the starry flag which in all the world is the sacred emblem of this Nation under God. As we pledge anew allegiance to all that its flowing folds symbolize, make us solemnly conscious that— There's not a thread of it No, nor a shred of it In all the spread of it From foot to head But heroes bled for it, Faced steel and lead for it, Precious blood shed for it If our flag is worth dying for, it is worth protecting. Today, I am reminded of a young soldier in Vietnam, who, foreseeing his death in battle, left us an undying memorial to the cause of freedom and the love of our flag. It was on a bloody battlefield that this young man had volunteered to take his buddy's place in a patrol. Walking across the rice paddies toward a mountain range, he cried out, "How quiet and deserted it isnot even the birds are singing." Then suddenly the fire from automatic rifles seemed to come out of every bush. This young man tried to save the life of his buddy by grabbing hold of him and pulling him to the bushes to safety. He never saw the rifle the enemy pointed at him from a few paces away. As he straightened up, he was shot in the back of the head and fell over dead. One month after his death, one of his buddies found a letter under the dead soldier's bunk, a letter which was written while he was yet alive and that had fallen from his personal belongings. His commanding officer mailed it to his home, and I read it to you in his own words, as his father and mother read it for the first time-some 30 days after he was buried. DEAR FOLKS: I'm writing this letter as my last one. You've probably already received word that I'm dead and that the government wishes to express its deepest regret. Believe me, I didn't want to die, but I know it was part of my job. I want my Country to live for billions and billions of years to come. I want it to stand as a light to all people oppressed and guide them to the same freedom we know. If we can stand and fight for freedom, then I think we have done the job God set down for us. It's up to every American to fight for the freedom we hold so dear. If we don't, the smells of free air could become dark and damp as in a prison cell. We won't be able to look at ourselves in a mirror. much less at our sons and daughters, because we know we have failed our God, our Country and our future generations. I can hold my head high because I fought, whether it be in heaven or hell. Besides, the saying goes, "One more GI from Viet Nam, St. Peter, I've served my time in hell." I fought for Sandy, Nell, Gale, Mom and Dad. But when the twins and Sandy's kids get old enough, they'll probably have to fight, too. Tell them to go proudly and without fear of death because it is worth keeping the land free. I remember a story from Mr. Williams' English classes, when I was a freshman, that said, "The cowards die a thousand times, the brave die but once." Don't mourn me, mother, for I'm happy I died fighting my country's enemies, and I will live forever in people's minds. I've done what I've always dreamed of. Don't mourn me, for I died a soldier of the United States of America. God bless you all and take care. I'll be seeing you in heaven. Your loving son and brother, BUTCH, These are the things we live for. These are the things we fight for. These are the things we die for. If our flag is worth dying for, it is worth protecting. Mr. ROGERS. Thank you, Mr. Quillen. There are a few questions I would like to direct to you. First of all, as I understand it, the State of Tennessee, which you have the honor to represent, has a statute making it a crime to desecrate the flag and the penalty, I think, in the State of Tennessee, is $200 fine and 60 days in jail. Do you know of any instance of a prosecution in your State? Mr. QUILLEN. No, sir, I do not, Mr. Chairman. Mr. ROGERS. I also note that this statute provides that the flag should be displayed over every schoolhouse in the State of Tennessee. Mr. QUILLEN. Yes, sir. Mr. ROGERS. Is that adhered to in that State? Has there ever been a prosecution on that? Mr. QUILLEN. I have seen flags on many schools. I cannot answer whether it is displayed on every school or not. But in accordance with the law, that is the code. Mr. ROGERS. You do not know of any violations of that? Mr. QUILLEN. No violations are brought to mind, Mr. Chairman. Mr. ROGERS. As you set forth in your statement, we do not have any Federal law on desecration. Mr. QUILLEN. No, sir; we do not. Mr. ROGERS. Do you feel we should pass legislation which would make it a Federal offense but at the same time not pre-empt the field, so to speak, and set aside the various State laws, or should we adhere strictly to the Federal law? Mr. QUILLEN. Mr. Chairman, as I said in my speech, I think that our flag is a national flag-it is not a State flag-and therefore a Federal law should be passed to penalize those who would desecrate it, as outlined in my bill. I feel that if a Federal law were enacted, then it would be protected because each State, as I understand it, does have a law regarding our flag, but I would say that it should be a Federal law, Mr. Chairman. Mr. ROGERS. Assume that we adopt a Federal law. Would you also still like to see the State laws remain and be enforced? Mr. QUILLEN. I would if their penalties were in accord with the provisions of the Federal law. I think the Federal law would bring the penalties to an average level. Many of the States have very small penalties, and some of them have very stiff penalties, even stiffer than recommended even with the amendment I recommended in my bill. Mr. ROGERS. Your recommendation was to increase the fine to $10,000. Mr. QUILLEN. Yes. |