FLAG BURNING, THE SEQUEL

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Reviving a hot-button issue from the 1988 presidential election, Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-N.Y.) testified at a House subcommittee hearing that "Eighty percent of the American people" want a constitutional amendment banning flag desecration. Solomon, chief sponsor of such a bill, which the House is expected to take up next month, says flag burning is not speech or expression but "a hateful tantrum," and should not be protected. Opponents of the bill say it would infringe on free-speech rights and amounts to "constitutional desecration." Supporters say the measure already has 272 of the 290 votes it needs to pass in the House, and 54 out of 67 needed in the Senate.