Amended in Assembly July 13, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 95

Introduced by Assembly Member Mathis

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez and Wilk)

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July 2, 2015

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 95—Relative to the American Flag.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 95, as amended, Mathis. American Flag.

This measure would declare that the American flag is an inseparable part of California’s rich history, tradition, and culture, that it represents the values of freedom and liberty, and would call upon the state and local governments to prohibit any government entity in the state from banning the American flag from public property.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, On June 14th, 1777, in the midst of the American
Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution
stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate
stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white
in a blue field, representing a new Constellation”; and

WHEREAS, On September 14th, 1814, American soldiers under
siege at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland raised a huge
American flag to celebrate a crucial victory over British forces
during the War of 1812, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write a
poem that eventually became the words of the United States
National Anthem; and

WHEREAS, On June 6th, 1944, more than 160,000 American
and Allied troops carrying the “Stars and Stripes” landed along a
50-mile stretch of heavily fortified French coastline in Normandy
to liberate Europe from the forces of Nazi Germany. More than
9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded on D-Day to free
Europe from fascist occupation; and

WHEREAS, On February 23rd, 1945, five Marines and a Navy
Corpsman raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during
the Battle of Iwo Jima. It was a hard-fought victory over
imperialism at the cost of 5,900 United States service members
killed and 17,400 wounded against 23,000 Japanese army and
naval forces fighting from an entrenched network of caves, dugouts,
tunnels and underground installations; and

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WHEREAS, On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin became the first human beings to set foot on the surface
of the moon, where they placed the American flag. There, the flag
has stood a decades-long vigil upon the Sea of Tranquility as a
gesture of peace for all mankind; and

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WHEREAS, On September 11th, 2001, in the aftermath of the
terrorist attack which destroyed the World Trade Center, three
New York City firefighters, George Johnson of Rockaway Beach,
Ladder 157, Dan McWilliams of Long Island, Ladder 157, and
Billy Eisengrein of Staten Island, Rescue 2, raised the American
flag over the smoldering ruins of Ground Zero where the Twin
Towers once stood. It was an act of defiance against those who
sought to break the unconquerable values of freedom and liberty
which the American flag represents; begin delete now, therefore, be it end delete begin insert and end insert

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WHEREAS, In 2015, the United States of America will provide
$35.4 billion in foreign assistance programs to more than 100
countries around the world through the efforts of over 20 different
government agencies. These investments will further America’s
foreign policy interests on issues ranging from expanding free
markets, combating extremism, and ensuring stable democracies,
to addressing the root causes of poverty, while simultaneously
establishing the American flag as the undisputed image of global
good will; now, therefore, be it

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Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature declares that the American
flag is an inseparable part of California’s rich history, tradition,
and culture; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature declares that the American flag
represents the values of freedom and liberty; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature calls upon the state and local
governments to prohibit any government entity in the state from
banning the American flag from public property, including, but
not limited to, public schools, public colleges, public universities,
state beaches, public parks, public monuments, museums, and
government offices; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of the resolution to the author for appropriate begin delete distribution end delete
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