Please send a message to your Senators urging support for an amendment to the United States Constitution making it a crime to desecrate the flag of the United States of America.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am writing in support of a United States constitutional amendment which would make it a crime to burn or otherwise desecrate the flag of the United States of America.

This has been an emotional issue since the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991 ruled that burning the American flag was a form of free speech and thus protected by the First Amendment. On September 11, 2001, when the nation itself was desecrated, protecting the flag - the symbol of the nation - took on an even greater importance.

While virtually all patriotic Americans think that burning or otherwise desecrating the flag is a despicable act, opponents of the constitutional amendment say that protecting free speech - no matter how unsavory - is the true way to honor the ideals for which the flag stands. It is a compelling argument, but we must disagree. The flag is more than just a piece of cloth. It is the embodiment of the principles of freedom and democracy and the rights that we hold dear. Our flag deserves the special protection that only a constitutional amendment can provide.

I do, however, support and important addition to the amendment, one that would further protect the honor of the flag and of our country itself. I urge the addition of a provision requiring that all United States flags sold in our country be manufactured in America.

In seeking to protect our flag, we should also remember that the Stars and Stripes are dishonored when we take jobs away from our own people in order to line the pockets of profiteers and heap more suffering on exploited workers in developing countries. The sight of hands of exploited workers sewing or otherwise manufacturing flags overseas can be an abuse just as strong as hands reaching out to light a match to the flag

If the our nation is worth defending and its most precious embodiment worthy of protection, then should we not at the very least demand that our national symbol is made on our own shores? Such a provision would draw at least one line against the steady erosion of jobs and the displacement of communities caused by closed plants. It would say that we care enough to protect at least the one thing that stands for our national ideals.

I urge you to support an amendment to ban the desecration of the flag in all its forms.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
June 27, 2006