Candidates support ban on flag burning
Friday, March 31, 2000 | 11:35 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Three Nevada contenders for seats in Congress said they would support a constitutional amendment allowing Congress to ban flag burning.
Former Congressman and now Senate candidate John Ensign voted for the amendment in 1995 and 1997 when he served in the House and still backs the measure, his spokeswoman, Sari Greenberg, said. Ensign could not be reached for comment Thursday or today.
Ensign's Democratic opponent, attorney Ed Bernstein, also said he would favor an amendment. Ensign and Bernstein are battling for the seat of retiring Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev.
"As an attorney, the First Amendment is incredibly important," Bernstein said. "As an attorney, I have fought for the First Amendment. But there is so much hurt in the eyes of veterans, if you look in the eyes of a veteran who has lost a leg. And that flag is the reason, in their eyes, that they gave their leg for their country. There are so many other ways to express that First Amendment right."
The emotional flag burning issue surfaced again this week in the Senate.
The stances of Nevada's Senate contenders on the issue could prove important if Congress decides to pursue it again next year.
The Senate seems to be the only stumbling block to the amendment passing. The House three times since 1995 has passed a constitutional amendment that would give Congress power to prohibit flag desecration. But the Senate has not.
The Senate on Wednesday voted 63-37, just four votes shy of a two-thirds majority needed to pass the constitutional amendment.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., voted for it. But Bryan switched his vote this year and voted against the amendment. He said he abhors flag burning but no longer believes America needs a constitutional amendment on the issue.
That means if the Senate chose to vote again after elections this year, the body likely would be one vote -- Ensign or Bernstein -- closer to passing the Amendment.
Republican Jon Porter, who is challenging Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., has the same view as Ensign and Bernstein, Berkley and current Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.
Porter said his respect for the flag is rooted in the beliefs of his father, a World War II veteran.
"Growing up, it was the one symbol in his mind that embodied America," Porter said.
archive
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Shooting in parking lot of CVS leaves man dead
- Man, 26, dies in collision with truck traveling at 100 mph
- Holiday shoppers skip turkey for Strip stores
- Casino venue in Singapore will have Las Vegas flavor
- Nevada’s just not for us, many top high schoolers say
- CityCenter completion might spur home foreclosures
- Fontainebleau retail component seeks bankruptcy
- MGM Mirage: CityCenter not affected by debt woes
- Holiday Auction 2009 items
- Real estate experts cautiously optimistic about market
Blogs
The Kats Report
Could a savior of shuttered Las Vegas Art Museum be ... Peter Max? (5 Comments)
For Paul Stanley and KISS, rock and roll is not over (4 Comments)
Twenty years ago today, Human Nature took root on the farm (1 Comment)
Robin Leach's Las Vegas Celebrity Watch
Photo Gallery: Donny Osmond’s triumphant return to the Flamingo
The Kats Report
'DWTS' champ Donny Osmond still deft afoot in return to Flamingo (8 Comments)
Politics: The Early Line
Meeting of GOP governors draws challengers, not Gibbons (5 Comments)
Politics: Ralston's Flash
Oscar loves forcing developers to sign labor peace agreements, Culinary loves the city's downtown plans and all is forgiven (10 Comments)
Calendar »
- 28 Sat
- 29 Sun
- 30 Mon
- 1 Tue
- 2 Wed
-
KISS at the Pearl
The Pearl at the Palms
-
UNLV Rebels vs. Louisville at the Thomas & Mack Center
The Thomas & Mack Center | 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
-
Stevie Wonder at MGM Grand
MGM Grand Garden Arena | 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
-
Joe Perry Project at the House of Blues
House of Blues | 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Vicente Fernandez at the Mandalay Bay Events Center
Mandalay Bay Events Center | 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.
-
Jay Leno at The Mirage
Terry Fator Theatre
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Technorati










