by Patrick Brady

About the author: Patrick Brady is a retired army major general and chairman of the board of the Citizens Flag Alliance (CFA), a coalition of groups that believes desecration of the American flag should be illegal. Brady gave the following testimony at a 1999 House of Representatives hearing on a proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit flag desecration. As of May 2002, the CFA is still working to gain support for the amendment.

My name is Pat Brady. I am the Chairman of the Board of the Citizens Flag Alliance. We are a coalition of some 138 organizations representing every element of our culture, some 20 million souls. We are nonpartisan and have one mission and one mission only: to return to the people the right of the people to protect their flag, a right...