II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 931

To provide for the protection of the flag of the United States, and for

other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 30, 1999

Mr. MCCONNELL (for himself, Mr. BENNETT, Mr. CONRAD, and Mr. DORGAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for the protection of the flag of the United

States, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Flag Protection Act

5 of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) the flag of the United States is a unique

9 symbol of national unity and represents the values

10 of liberty, justice, and equality that make this Na-
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1 tion an example of freedom unmatched throughout

2 the world;

3 (2) the Bill of Rights is a guarantee of those

4 freedoms and should not be amended in a manner

5 that could be interpreted to restrict freedom, a

6 course that is regularly resorted to by authoritarian

7 governments which fear freedom and not by free and

8 democratic nations;

9 (3) abuse of the flag of the United States

10 causes more than pain and distress to the over11 whelming majority of the American people and may

12 amount to fighting words or a direct threat to the

13 physical and emotional well-being of individuals at

14 whom the threat is targeted; and

15 (4) destruction of the flag of the United States

16 can be intended to incite a violent response rather

17 than make a political statement and such conduct is

18 outside the protections afforded by the first amend19 ment to the Constitution.

20 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide

21 the maximum protection against the use of the flag of the

22 United States to promote violence while respecting the lib23 erties that it symbolizes.
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1 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES

2 AGAINST USE FOR PROMOTING VIOLENCE.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 700 of title 18, United

4 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘§ 700. Incitement; damage or destruction of property

6 involving the flag of the United States

7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF FLAG OF THE UNITED

8 STATES.—In this section, the term ‘flag of the United

9 States’ means any flag of the United States, or any part

10 thereof, made of any substance, in any size, in a form that

11 is commonly displayed as a flag and that would be taken

12 to be a flag by the reasonable observer.

13 ‘‘(b) ACTIONS PROMOTING VIOLENCE.—Any person

14 who destroys or damages a flag of the United States with

15 the primary purpose and intent to incite or produce immi16 nent violence or a breach of the peace, and under cir17 cumstances in which the person knows that it is reason18 ably likely to produce imminent violence or a breach of

19 the peace, shall be fined not more than $100,000, impris20 oned not more than 1 year, or both.

21 ‘‘(c) DAMAGING A FLAG BELONGING TO THE UNITED

22 STATES.—Any person who steals or knowingly converts to

23 his or her use, or to the use of another, a flag of the

24 United States belonging to the United States, and who

25 intentionally destroys or damages that flag, shall be fined
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1 not more than $250,000, imprisoned not more than 2

2 years, or both.

3 ‘‘(d) DAMAGING A FLAG OF ANOTHER ON FEDERAL

4 LAND.—Any person who, within any lands reserved for

5 the use of the United States, or under the exclusive or

6 concurrent jurisdiction of the United States, steals or

7 knowingly converts to his or her use, or to the use of an8 other, a flag of the United States belonging to another

9 person, and who intentionally destroys or damages that

10 flag, shall be fined not more than $250,000, imprisoned

11 not more than 2 years, or both.

12 ‘‘(e) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall

13 be construed to indicate an intent on the part of Congress

14 to deprive any State, territory, or possession of the United

15 States, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of jurisdic16 tion over any offense over which it would have jurisdiction

17 in the absence of this section.’’.

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap19 ter 33 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by

20 striking the item relating to section 700 and inserting the

21 following:

‘‘700. Incitement; damage or destruction of property involving the flag of the

United States.’’.

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