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WASHINGTON - The Senate raised the flag Monday, as senators began debating Sen. Orrin Hatch's proposal to amend the Constitution to prohibit desecration of the Stars and Stripes.
Meantime, Sen. Bob Bennett was preparing to make the case for an alternate proposal to enact a law making it a crime to desecrate or burn a flag, averting the need for a constitutional change. Bennett is expected to make his case as early as today.
Hatch has said he believes he has 66 senators who will vote for the constitutional amendment - one shy of the 67 that would be needed to pass it through Congress and send it to the states, where 38 would have to ratify the measure. The House embraced the amendment last year.
"I would say it's a critical debate," Hatch said. "Should this amendment pass, we will restore . . . the power of the people over their own Constitution. We will make it clear that it is the people, not the judges, who are sovereign."
The issue puts the two Utah colleagues in opposing corners - Hatch leading the Constitutional change, while Bennett has steadfastly opposed an amendment.
Hatch insists that, because of the Supreme Court's rulings defending flag burning, a statute would be inadequate. Bennett argues that flag desecration is wrong, but is not a serious enough problem to require tinkering with the Constitution.
"I am upset about people who burn the flag, but I took an oath to uphold the Constitution, not the flag," Bennett said earlier this month.
Bennett's statutory flag protection was introduced last year and is co-sponsored by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. It prohibits desecrating a flag with the intent to breach the peace, threatening anyone by burning a flag, or stealing and burning a flag on federal land.
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill, and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., both said Monday that they could support a statutory protection for the flag, but not a constitutional amendment. It remains to be seen how many others might follow.
Other Democrats called the flag debate an election-year stunt, distracting from more important issues.
"The Constitution is too important to be used for partisan political purposes and, in my view, so is our American flag," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. "The Constitution goes beyond symbols. The Constitution is the bedrock of our rights."
But those claims did not sit well with Hatch.
"Bringing it up at this time is not an election-year ploy because we have Democrats and Republicans who feel very deeply about it," Hatch said.