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Stephanie |
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BRAC
I would like the record to show that had I been present I would have voted in support of H.R.2863, the Fiscal Year 2006 Department of Defense Appropriations Act; H.R.2475, the Fiscal 2006 Intelligence Authorization Act; and H.J.RES.110, the Flag Desecration Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Fiscal Year 2006 Defense Appropriations bill funds the activities of the Department of Defense including the funds needed to outfit and train our servicemen and women and important benefits and services for members of our military and their families. The bill also includes funding for three partnership programs between the Department of Defense and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. These important programs will help bring together a unique array of capabilities offered by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology to help our nation’s military meet the challenge of transformation and modernization. I will continue to work with my colleagues in the House of Representatives to improve our nation’s commitment to the men and women who serve in the military. There is no question that all Americans owe their freedom to those brave enough to serve in our nation’s military. I also would like to express my support for the Fiscal Year 2006 Intelligence Authorization Act. This bill provides funding for 15 U.S. intelligence agencies and intelligence-related activities of the U.S. government — including the CIA and the National Security Agency, as well as foreign intelligence activities of the Defense Department, FBI, State Department, Homeland Security Department, and other agencies. I will continue working to ensure our federal intelligence and security agencies receive the resources and funding needed to protect the United States from external and internal threats. Finally, I would like to express my support for the flag desecration amendment to the United States Constitution. This resolution authorizes Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States. Our nation’s flag is a symbol of freedom and a source of pride for all of us fortunate enough to call ourselves Americans. Our nation has always encouraged free discussion and reasonable disagreement, but the physical desecration of an American flag goes beyond the pale. Such actions are insulting to those who have fought, and died, under the American flag, and I am proud to support efforts to ban flag desecration. In 1989, the Supreme Court held that no laws could prohibit political protesters from burning the American flag and declared unconstitutional the flag desecration laws of 48 states and of the United States. In that case, Texas v. Johnson, Justice Stevens wrote a powerful dissenting opinion that has guided my reasoning on the Amendment for some time. Justice Stevens pointed out the importance of distinguishing between disagreeable ideas and disagreeable conduct. In a particular apt analogy, Justice Stevens noted that if Johnson had spray painted his message on the Lincoln Memorial, the government could prohibit his “expression.” I have always found myself in agreement with the idea that there should be a legitimate interest in preserving the quality of an important national asset. I look forward to
continuing to work on these and other important issues in the 109th
Congress. Thank you.
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