Letting the People Decide: The Constitutional Amendment Authorizing Congress to Prohibit the Physical Desecration of the Flag of the United States

Letting the People Decide: The Constitutional Amendment Authorizing Congress to Prohibit the Physical Desecration of the Flag of the United States

Letting the People Decide: The Constitutional Amendment Authorizing Congress to Prohibit the Physical Desecration of the Flag of the United States

John Andretti
Remarks as published by the U.S. Government Printing Office
March 10, 2004
Washington D.C., USA

Senator Orrin G. Hatch: We are probably going to have Mr. Andretti speak first, since he has to catch a plane. John Andretti is a native of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, who has won major victories in Indy cars and sports cars, and is now a highly-respected NASCAR Nextel Cup Series driver for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. He is the nephew of the legendary Mario Andretti and the godson of renowned Indy car pilot A.J. Foyt. I have read that Mr. Andretti is the first NASCAR driver to ever testify before the United States Senate.

Senator Patrick G. Leahy: Mr. Chairman, if I could interrupt there, you say he has got to hurry to get a plane. The way Mr. Andretti drives and his uncle drives and all, why would he slow down to take an airplane?

[Laughter.]

Senator Orrin G. Hatch: Well, I have a feeling he is going to be able to get to the airport on time. We will put it that way. We want to thank you for sharing your experience and views with us.

...

Senator Orrin G. Hatch: Let’s have the five witnesses come to the table. I have introduced you already. They will put the name tags up. We are going to start with Mr. Andretti first, since he has to catch a plane, and then we will go to General Brady. Mr. Andretti, if we could begin with you, we are so honored to have you here. We appreciate you taking time from what we know is a busy schedule, and I think it is a good thing that you are the first NASCAR driver to appear before the United States Senate. We know it is a little bit disconcerting to have to appear before the Senate, but we are grateful to have you here. It is not nearly as frightening as what you do on a day-by-day basis.

STATEMENT OF JOHN ANDRETTI, NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES DRIVER, MOORESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

John Andretti: Much more frightening, believe me. To get started, I would like to introduce a colleague of mine, Raleigh Hemling, who is the President of the United States Auto Club.

Senator Orrin G. Hatch: It is great to have you with us.

John Andretti: Good morning. My name is John Andretti and I want to thank the members of the Judiciary Committee for holding this hearing, and thank you also for inviting me to talk on a matter that is of importance to me and the great majority of Americans, protecting their flag from acts of physical desecration. By the end of World War II, my father’s family had lost everything. He and his brother grew up in a relocation camp in eastern Italy, living there from the time they were 8 years old until they were 16. They came to the United States at that point, a land of freedom and opportunity, and I am proud to say they made the most of it.

Sometimes, he has a hard time describing it because of the emotion, but my father has told me, after seeing the flag of the United States first when liberated in his native Italy and later when liberated into a new life for him and his family, the flag of the United States represented goodness and freedom. That is a lesson he has taught to his children and a lesson I am teaching to mine. Being a father of three, it is important for me to teach my children respect and honor, not only for individuals but also on a whole, and the flag is a means to that end. Our faith is our foundation, but there must be more and it must be tangible and it is found in the flag.

This is obviously not my environment. I am usually wearing a fire-retardant uniform emblazoned with the colors of my sponsors and talking about NASCAR racing. I am a race car driver and have driven for more than 30 years, everything from carts to Indy cars and NASCAR race cars.

In fact, I hope every member of this Committee will come join us at a track sometime. Each one of you is very welcome. I know Senator Kyl and Senator Graham can tell you how great the fans are, and I know Senator Biden, Senator Edwards and Senator Sessions can tell you how much fun our races can be.

And they can tell you something about my bosses, the millions of people who follow motor sports in this country. When all is said and done, every driver in major league racing works for the fans, and when you work for someone, you get to know them. I have learned a lot about those fans, as well as my fellow competitors and those who run the sport. I feel I am representing a huge majority of them here today.

I am here because I fully believe in what General Brady and the Citizens Flag Alliance are about. I am very proud to be an American. Military or civilian, native or immigrant, the flag is our bond. I fly the flag at my home 24 hours a day. And, yes, it is lighted for all to see. I appreciate what the flag stands for and I know quite well what it means to the millions of Americans who follow motor sports racing. I think most of them would be surprised, if not outraged, to learn that today, in our country, it is legal to physically desecrate the flag of the United States.

There are those who say the flag is only a symbol, but symbols are important. Just as it was a symbol of freedom to my then 8-year-old father in Italy, and later a symbol of opportunity to him and his family as he entered this country for the first time, it had a message.

Race officials rely on symbols on flags to communicate with drivers during noisy racing action. Even with radios today, flags are still important and functional in racing. In quite the same way, our Nation’s banner is important and functional and still sends a message. In NASCAR racing, you will see flags waved a lot, but there is one flag that gets waved by NASCAR fans more than any other, and that would be the red, white and blue of Old Glory. Early in our Nation’s history, the flag of the United States was something of a signal flag. Out in front of the troops, it signaled action by our military against the forces that would otherwise overrun us. It serves as a symbol of that very notion today as American troops defend our liberties and protect our interests around the world. Burning a flag, it seems to me, is a very profound signal that those who desecrate the flag have a total disregard for our military.

In 1967, Congress passed a Federal law that prohibited flag desecration right here in the District of Columbia. Congress passed that law because of the effect that flag desecration had on the morale of the troops then fighting in Vietnam. That law, now made invalid by the Supreme Court, was the last show of Congressional flag-related support for America’s military men and women who are engaged in war. We should honor today’s warriors and underpin morale by once again making it illegal to physically desecrate the flag. I have to admit I have never seen the flag burned, other than on a television newscast. Those I work with and those I work for, NASCAR fans, aren’t the kind of folks who take to this sort of thing. Their flag is important to them. They respect it and they protect it.

I once heard a man say that the flag represents the freedom to burn it. I would disagree, and I think most Americans would, too. The flag is a symbol that represents all that our Nation is can be. It symbolizes what the people say it symbolizes, and the great majority certainly don’t believe that includes the freedom to desecrate it.

As a sign to rally for a cause, there can be no greater symbol than our flag. We rally around it in times of crisis, whether a natural disaster or a global conflict. Our history bears that out. The September 11, 2001, attack on America is a prime example of what Americans feel for their flag and what they know it to be as a symbol of strength, determination and resolve for a free people to remain so.

The Citizens Flag Alliance and the American Legion have done a great deal of polling over the years. The figures are remarkable. Very consistently, they have shown that more than three of four Americans want their flag protected. Honestly, I am surprised the numbers aren’t higher. I am sure they are higher among NASCAR fans, who are a pretty good representation of mainstream blue-collar and white-collar America.

Some look at the flag and just see a piece of cloth. That perception might be acceptable, but their understanding of the flag’s value is lacking. The bits of fabric that make up the flag are only cloth, but when you pull them together in that recognized pattern, something happens. As the flag, it becomes a binding force that holds us together as one people, and those who would desecrate it are out to break that bond. Nothing tears down America more than burning the flag.

I am a businessman by profession and a race car driver by choice, but inside I am still something of a country boy from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where life is still pretty uncomplicated. To me, the need to protect the flag is easy to explain.

Events of late find us reflecting on values that we believe are important and necessary in a free society. One has the right to freely associate—a major values battle now being fought by the Boy Scouts of America. Another is the right to publicly invoke the name of God in a patriotic exercise—another major values battle being wage by the American Legion in their effort to keep the words ‘‘under God’’ in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

As a Nation, we are bound together by our shared beliefs in such values, and we are bound by tradition as Americans to pass along to younger generations the importance of upholding those values that are uniquely American.

One of the greatest tools for teaching values of respect, commitment, loyalty and patriotism is the flag of the United States. But how do you explain to a youngster that it is right and customary to respect our flag, but okay to burn it? I have three young children and I spend time with children all over the country because of my racing activities, and I have no way to explain that to them. What we are about today and what we are here for is important to all, I know, but what carries forth from here today is of greater importance. We are considering more than just the flag here. We are helping to assure that the flag that flies throughout the Nation is seen, treasured and honored everyday. You never know. It may give cause for a youngster to ask what the flag is for, what it means, or why it is important.

The answer for most of us should be easy. That flag is about values. It is about tradition, it is about America and the men and women who paid an awful price for what we have today. We honor and cherish members of our armed forces and veterans of military service when we honor and protect the flag.

Draping the flag over the coffin of a fallen soldier, placing a flag near a grave or hanging a flag from your house on Memorial Day are all ways we honor and express our appreciation for those who have fought and died defending America. When our laws sanction the physical desecration of the flag, the honor is diminished and the recognition is dulled.

There is importance to the flag as a symbol and one that has a noble function. In racing, your helmet is your trademark, and mine is red, white and blue, with the American flag as a theme. My work clothes are colorful reflections of my sponsors who support me. The flag has the same function for our men and women in uniform. For them, it is a reflection of the people who support them in their job of protecting all of us.

The American people deserve the backing of this body in their desire to protect the flag, and a constitutional amendment to return that right to the people is the only way. For those who still can’t see the flag for all it is, or who hold concern for amending the Constitution, we say keep that concern. We respect your position, but please consider the desire of a great majority and move the flag amendment off of Capitol Hill and send it to the States for debate and ratification. Let the people decide.

Thank you.

Senator Orrin G. Hatch: Well, thank you so much, Mr. Andretti, I will tell you, I am a fan, but I am going to be even more of a fan after hearing you testify. I appreciate you taking time to be with us today. I know I indicated that we would try to get you out of here by 11:30 so you can make your plane. So we will let you go at this time, with our gratitude that you took the time to come here and testify in this important hearing.

John Andretti: Well, I have, obviously, very profound feelings about it. I have a family that is important to me, and I am honored and privileged that I could come here.

Senator Orrin G. Hatch: Well, thank you so much.

John Andretti: Thank you.

Senator Orrin G. Hatch: We will let you go, then. Thanks for being here.

[Applause.]

[The prepared statement of Mr. Andretti appears as a submission for the record.]