mr. speaker , what we are talking about today is a fairly simple thing .  the text of the original bill is to give the 50 states the legal authority to , on a state-by-state basis , prevent the desecration of the flag , a symbol of our country .  there is something a heck of a lot more serious going on than the desecration of the flag : it is the desecration of our nation .  in the last 4 years alone , the national debt has increased by $ 2.1 trillion .  we have taken money out of the social security trust fund , $ 632 billion out of that trust fund , and used it to run the country , leaving nothing there but an iou .  money has been taken out of the federal employees retirement system , now a total of $ 614 billion .  mr. speaker , if any business in america had taken that money out of the employees ' trust fund -- -- 