BILL NUMBER: ACR 95	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  115
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  AUGUST 16, 2016
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  AUGUST 11, 2016
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 10, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JULY 13, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Mathis
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez and Wilk)

                        JULY 2, 2015

   Relative to the American Flag.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 95, 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.



   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
   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
   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; and

   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
   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 distribution.