WASHINGTON -- Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, rallied the American Legion Tuesday to fight for his constitutional amendment to ban flag desecration.
Hatch says he now lacks just two votes to pass it.But his main opponent may be fellow Utah GOP Sen. Bob Bennett, who is trying to torpedo Hatch's amendment by pushing instead a simple bill of his own -- not a constitutional amendment -- to stop flag desecration.
Bennett's press secretary, Mary Jane Collipriest, said, "He feels we need to explore every legislative avenue before we tinker with the Constitution."
But Hatch has constantly said he believes only a constitutional amendment will overcome a 1989 Supreme Court decision. That decision ruled flag burning is a protected form of free speech. Hatch has pushed his amendment unsuccessfully since that court decision.
So, Hatch appeared before an American Legion legislative rally of veterans meeting in Washington Tuesday, urging them to lobby and fight for his cause.
"We are very close to the needed 67 votes (to pass the amendment), perhaps just two votes away," he said. "In the next critical weeks, we need letters from members of the Legion and the Citizens Flag Alliance to every senator. Don't give up on the senators who say they won't vote for the flag."
The Legion didn't waste any time. A delegation met with Bennett Tuesday after Hatch's speech.
Collipriest said Bennett wants to stress that "he strongly opposes any desecration of the flag." But he worries a constitutional amendment might hurt free speech more than it helps the flag.
She said Bennett and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., plan to introduce a simple bill to protect the flag. She said it has been "reviewed by constitutional scholars . . . who say it will pass constitutional muster."
Meanwhile, Hatch told the Legion that passage of his amendment is important because "we owe it to the veterans who defended our flag and we owe it to the American people who love our flag. We owe it to our nation."
He added, "The amendment will leave untouched the current constitutional protections for Americans to speak at a rally or to write to their newspaper."
"By simply restoring the traditional power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag," he said, "we are drawing the line between legitimate free speech and destructive conduct."