BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �






                      SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
                              LOU CORREA, CHAIRMAN
                                             


          Bill No:        SB 812
          Author:         Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs
          Version:        As Introduced
          Hearing Date:   April 12, 2011
          Fiscal:         No
          Consultant:     Donald E. Wilson




                                 SUBJECT OF BILL  
          
          POW/MIA Flag  
           
                                   PROPOSED LAW  
           
           Establish protocols within the State of California for the 
          proper display of the POW/MIA flag.
                                         
                          EXISTING LAW AND BACKGROUND
                                         
           1. There is no existing California law on the display of 
             the POW/MIA Flag.

           2. Occasionally the Department of General Services (DGS) 
             is harassed by individuals claiming that the POW/MIA 
             Flag is improperly displayed when it is flown below the 
             California Republic Flag.

           3. United States Code 36, Subtitle 1, Part A, Chapter 9, 
             Section 902 further subsection "f" states "Display of 
             the POW/MIA flag pursuant to this section shall be in a 
             manner designed to ensure visibility to the public."


                                     COMMENT  
          
          1.   Federal law used to say that the POW/MIA Flag shall 
          fly below the national flag.  Some interpreted this to mean 
          immediately below the Federal Flag; however, that was not 
          what the law said.










          2.  The Federal Code was silent on state flag etiquette for 
          the obvious reason that state flags are the concern of 
          state governments and not the Federal Government.

          3.  In the words of Flagguys.com "The US Flag Code is 
          silent on the POW flag specifically or on the matter of 
          state flags taking precedence over non US flags. So I find 
          no help there. It only establishes that the US flag takes 
          first position."

          4.  States are sovereign geo-political entities and the 
          soldier, sailor, airmen, and marines who serve do so for 
          the preservation of those geo-political entities- not 
          vice-versa.

          5.  Individuals -no matter how noble or extreme their 
          sacrifice-do not outrank the sovereignty of the republic 
          either at the Federal or State level.  That idea is foreign 
          to any interpretation of republicanism and hence, why the 
          federal law has never directed that the POW/MIA Flag be 
          flown directly below the American Flag.

          6.  Some groups who have admirably not forgotten their 
          comrades have set up "protocols" that proliferate on web 
          sites, but these protocols have no basis in the law and are 
          simply a reflection of members' opinions of what they would 
          like to see happen.


                                     SUPPORT  
          
          None received

                                      OPPOSE 
          
          None received







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