mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. speaker , today we are enduring the republican rite of spring : a proposed amendment to the bill of rights to restrict what it calls flag desecration . 
why spring ? 
because members need to send out a press release extolling the need to protect the flag , as if the flag somehow needed congress to protect it . 
it is easier than answering questions about the failure of this house to provide proper health care to our veterans , proper armor to save the lives of our troops , or proper support for their survivors . 
mr. speaker , i have heard a number of speakers invoke the rescuers and heroes and first responders at ground zero on september 11 and the few weeks after . 
mr. speaker , that is my district . 
i was there in the days after 9/11 . 
i have seen the heroism and the self-sacrifice of the first responders . 
i have watched their betrayal by the government of the united states , by the federal and state and local governments which are not providing for their health care , which are not providing workers ' comp when they can not do their jobs because of world trade center health syndrome , which denies that they were present in the workers ' comp proceedings after they get medals for rescuing people . 
that is the betrayal we should talk about . 
what they care about is being made whole , is having their health care taken care of and their lives restored , not this . 
the flag is a symbol of our great nation and the fundamental freedoms that have made this nation great . 
if the flag needs protection at all , it needs protection from members of congress who value the symbol more than they value the freedoms the flag represents . 
quite frankly , the crass political use of the flag to question the patriotism of those who value fundamental freedoms is a greater insult to those who died in the service of our nation than is the burning of the flag . 
i am certain we will hear speeches invoking the sacrifice of our troops in the field as a pretext for carving up the first amendment . 
we already have . 
that is a shameful exploitation of the patriotism and courage of these fine and courageous young people . 
it is the civic equivalent of violating the commandment against taking the lord 's name in vain . 
if members want to honor the sacrifice of our troops , protect the rights they fight for . 
protect our civil liberties , and protect the rights of veterans . 
playing games with the constitution does not honor them . 
people have rights in this country that supersede public opinion , even strongly held public opinion . 
that is why we have a bill of rights to protect minorities from the majority . 
if we do not preserve those rights , then the flag will have been desecrated far beyond the capability of any idiot with a cigarette lighter . 
let there be no doubt that this amendment is aimed directly at ideas . 
current federal laws say that the preferred way to dispose of a tattered flag is to burn it , but there are those who would criminalize the same act of burning the flag if it was done to express political dissent . 
mr. speaker , the fact of the matter is i have seen motion pictures , i have seen movies reflecting the war of 1812 in which the british burned our capital . 
i saw in those movies , actors playing british soldiers burning the flag . 
did we send in the police to arrest the actors for this flag desecration ? 
of course not . 
we do not mind that because we know they do not mean it . 
that is to say , they are not burning the flag as an expression of disdain for our values , as an expression of their opinions on political issues of their disagreement with the administration or with the government in power . 
no , they are doing it as part of a play , play-acting ; so the physical act does not mean anything , so we do not care . 
but under this amendment , if someone were to do the same thing , burn the flag at the same time as he says , i disagree with the policy of whatever it is , that would be a criminal act . 
so what is really being made criminal ? 
not the act of burning the flag . 
what is really being made criminal is the act of burning the flag combined with the expression of a dissident , unpopular political opinion . 
the act of burning the flag to dispose of it is a praiseworthy act . 
the act of burning the flag as part of a movie or part of a play , that is okay . 
i do not think anybody contemplates arresting the actors . 
really , what we are getting at here is the core expression of first amendment protected ideas . 
we will arrest people who as part of expressing their opinion about something burn the flag . 
but if they burn the flag without expressing an opinion contrary to the government as part of a play or for some other reason , that will be okay . 
that should tell us what this amendment is about . 
that is why the supreme court said that the law was unconstitutional , because it does violate the first amendment . 
the distinguished ranking member is quite correct . 
if we carve out this exception for the first amendment , if we make this the first time that we will limit rights protected by the bill of rights , it will be easier to do it in the future . 
then the next amendment will come along and say that , well , if you say things that we think , that somebody at the moment thinks endangers american troops , you say the war , whatever war it is at the moment , is wrong , our president should n't have done it , whoever the president may be at that moment , our troops should n't be in wherever they are , that is endangering our troops , we will make that illegal . 
that will be easier to do . 
that is why this amendment is so dangerous . 
how many members of congress , used car dealers , fast-food restaurants , and other seemingly legitimate individuals and enterprises have engaged in the act of using the flag or parts of the flag for advertising , an act which our unconstitutional law defines as flag desecration ? 
this amendment would presumably make that law constitutional once more . 
if ratified , i think there are more than a few people who will have to redesign their campaign materials to stay out of jail , except , of course , that probably no one will arrest them for that violation of the law because they will not be seen to be using it for dissident political speech , unless they are running on an unpopular platform , then maybe they will be . 
again , that is the danger of this amendment . 
as if this assault on the bill of rights is not enough , the judiciary committee once again did not even bother holding a hearing on this very significant constitutional amendment . 
the subcommittee on the constitution did not bother to consider it , to debate it , or to vote on it . 
now , i know that they will say , we 've held hearings in previous congresses . 
yeah , and we have rejected this amendment in previous congresses . 
and this is a new congress . 
there are new members . 
there is no excuse for doing something or attempting to do something so significant to start tearing up the bill of rights without even a hearing to hear opinions on it just because prior congresses may have held hearings . 
this cavalier attitude toward the bill of rights is offensive and revealing . 
why discuss it ? 
why look into it ? 
it 's only the constitution . 
we 're only talking about the rights of a few malcontents for whom even opponents of this amendment have contempt . 
and we do have contempt for people who would burn the flag . 
none of us think that those people are doing something praiseworthy . 
we all think it is absurd and wrong , but we think their right to be wrong has to be protected . 
that is what america is all about . 
by the way , where is this epidemic of flag burning ? 
i do not recall seeing anybody burning the flag in i do not know how many years . 
what is the danger we are legislating against ? 
people have died for this great nation and the rights which this flag so proudly represent . 
we are a shining beacon to the world because we allow dissent , even when that dissent is offensive or despicable . 
let us not cease to be a shining beacon on the hill . 
let us not diminish our liberty . 
let us not destroy the way of life for which our troops have made the ultimate sacrifice . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
