They’re trying to pass a flag burning amendment again?

The one-line change to the Constitution ? “The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States” ? was approved by a 300-125 vote as a pair of holidays approach ? Flag Day on June 14 and Independence Day in July.
. . .
Burning an American flag shows disrespect for America, and the majority of the American people approve of legally protecting Old Glory, supporters said. “If we allow its defacement, we allow our country’s gradual decline,” said Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio.
. . .
Lawmakers have debated the flag amendment almost annually since a 5-4 Supreme Court decision in 1989 saying flag-burning was a protected free speech right. That ruling overturned a 1968 federal statue and flag protection laws in 48 states.

In 1990, Congress passed another law protecting the flag, but the Supreme Court that year, in another 5-4 ruling, struck it down as unconstitutional.

Since then, the House has approved flag amendments in 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001, all by more than 300 votes. The senate, in votes in 1995 and 2000, came up with only 63 votes, four short of the two-thirds majority needed.

The House’s new members haven’t had chance to weigh in on the issue, said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

This is just retarded. Del did a good job of summing up why this is a bad idea at Freespeech.com :

This is such a simple concept, I can’t understand why most right-wingers don’t get it. The flag is a symbol. Desecrating it as an expression of free speech! The symbolism of the flag means nothing if the freedom it represents is limited by the government! Why is that such a hard concept to understand? Our war dead didn’t die for the flag! They died for the freedom that it represents and the system that protects that freedom!

What I find so ludicrous about this is Tom DeLay’s assertion that the reason this was brought up is because “the House’s new members haven’t had chance to weigh in on the issue”. Y’know, the new members of Congress never got a chance to “weigh in” on abolishing slavery or granting women the right to vote either. Maybe Tom DeLay and his colleagues should bring those issues up as well.