06/25/05

For the Constitution to be amended, the resolution has to be approved by more than two-thirds of each house of Congress and more than two-thirds [try three-quarters] of the states, either by legislation or via public referendum. The House approved the resolution on Wednesday by a 286-130 vote. Now, the ball is in the hands of the Senate, which has failed to back a flag-burning amendment on seven occasions in the past. But, as the AP notes, the amendment failed by four votes in 2003, the last time it came up -- the exact number of seats picked up by the Republican Party in November. Republican senators have been supportive of an amendment in the past. The Senate, according to the AP, expects to consider the measure after the July Fourth holiday recess. That gives members of the Senate about two weeks to consider whether they want to be judged by history as the first American legislators to carve out exceptions to the First Amendment.

http://tinyurl.com/9gvsw

from Cranbury Press, by Hank Kalet


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp