Testimony of Marvin Virgil Stenhammar of Asheville, N.C.

07.08.98

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My name is Marvin Virgil Stenhammar. I was born in Wichita, Kansas, and spent my formative years in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and on my Grandparents' farm in Pawnee County. Thank you for this opportunity to submit this statement in opposition to S.J. Res. 40, the proposed constitutional amendment to ban flag desecration.

I Strongly oppose the "Flag Burning & Desecration Amendment"!

As a combat veteran of Beirut, Panama, Somalia & Desert Storm, I feel very Strongly about our flag and what it stands for. I am a permanently disabled, as a direct result of my 15 years of service to our country. I feel that our flag, "Old Glory" stands for FREEDOM, JUSTICE & LIBERTY. It also symbolizes The BLOOD SPILLED by American service men and women who gave so much to protect what it stands for.

Though many of my colleagues and friends died, were injured in training or were wounded in action for it, they really were not wounded for it, the flag, but rather for it, Liberty, and what the flag really stands for. In reality the flag is just a symbol of that sacrifice and more importantly, a symbol of our American ideals. Therefore, I am speaking in opposition to the proposed Constitutional Amendment to outlaw desecration of the flag. This legislation, S.J. Res. 40, is an unnecessary intrusion on our civil liberties.

During my years as a Paratrooper & Special Forces "Green Beret", I had both opportunity and a duty to travel to and be involved with several countries with evil, oppressive governments. Governments where the people's civil rights were often abridged. Or places where liberty did not exist at all. I swore then that I would never live in a country where the symbol of the government became more important than the people's rights to live free under that government.

People think of Special Forces as Commandos, but as you know, we're also the Army's Trainers. We deploy all over the world on Mobile Training Teams and advise friendly governments & their soldiers on the proper role of a civilian lead military during Nation Building & Counter Insurgencies. We train foreign soldiers to be tolerant and abide by the Laws of Land Warfare, the Geneva Convention, Hague and the Democratic ideals of their own peoples. We do not train them to arrest or beat up peaceful protestors, not even flag burners.

I feel that the right to protest & political expression, no matter how stupid or offensive it may be to the majority, must be allowed, as long as it is peaceful. This flag amendment will place a higher value on an inanimate object, a symbol, than the rights of the people living under it. The Constitution and especially the Bill of Rights, gave protection to "The People" "We The People". Flags, no matter how honored, do not have unalienable rights, people do! Please help to protect them.

If this amendment passes, I feel flag burning will become a common form of protest, against this ill -conceived policy. It will also be the first time since December 1791, when the "Bill of Rights" was adopted, that the Government has enacted a law that abridges the "Bill of Rights". This country is made great by what it tolerates, and our toleration has to include all forms of peaceful protest, no mater how unpopular that may be to the majority.

As a true conservative (read Jeffersonian democrat, civil libertarian), I ask you, Sir, when did it become conservative policy to recommend several changes to the Constitution? My brand of Conservatism does not include this doctrine. I feel, you have better things to do with your time & our tax dollars, than changing the Constitution, for something that rarely occurs and is typically done by immature idiots. Please Do NOT support this bill.

Mr. Chairman, I ask that my official statement and the statement of Solange Bitol of the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU, be entered into the official record.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this prospective legislation and will be happy to answer any questions you or the committee may have for me.

MSGT(R) Marvin Virgil Stenhammar
U.S. Army Special Operations Command (Retired)