Applied Citizenship

[Texsox]

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 11, 5:06 PM ET

 

WASHINGTON - A 17-year-old Eagle Scout wanting to honor his grandfather's

"love of God, country and family" with a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol

has helped remove a ban on the word "God" in certificates that accompany

these flags.

 

The acting Architect of the Capitol, Stephen Ayers, said Thursday he was

revising guidelines on Capitol flag certificates because it was "beyond the

scope of this agency's responsibilities to censor messages from members of

Congress."

 

Last week Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, protested upon learning that the

Architect's office had removed the word "God" from the certificate of

authenticity accompanying a flag 17-year-old Andrew Larochelle of Dayton

wanted to give his grandfather.

 

The boy had asked that the certificate read: "This flag was flown in honor

of Marcel Larochelle, my grandfather, for his dedication and love of God,

country and family."

 

But the Architect excised "God" from the inscription, saying it violated a

policy, set in 2003, banning religious and political expressions on the

certificates.

 

Lawmakers, led by Republicans, have since demanded that policy be changed.

 

The practice, House Republican leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, wrote in a

letter Wednesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., "has rightly drawn

outrage from the American people, who have grown weary of endless attempts

by politicians and bureaucrats to bar the word God and even the most tacit

references to faith from our public institutions."

 

The flag dispute led off questioning at Pelosi's weekly news conference

Thursday. "I don't think the Architect's office should be in the role of

censoring what members want to say," she said.

 

Ayers, in a memo to members Thursday, says that personalized dedications are

permitted. No restrictions are named except that they be limited to 300

characters. These messages are added to the certificate of authenticity

stating when the flag was flown at the Capitol.

 

Turner said in an interview that he was asking the Architect's office to

reissue the certificate for Andrew with the original wording. The issue was

important, Turner said, because there are numerous references to God in the

Capitol - from the morning prayers to inscriptions on the walls - and the

Architect's policy was "placing all of these references at risk."

 

The flag program began in 1937 and today there are workers from the

Architect's office constantly raising and lowering flags, sometimes indoors

as well as outdoors, to meet some 100,000 requests a year. The requests are

made through member offices, and most lawmakers have instructions on their

web sites on how to obtain a Capitol flag.

 

Turner said that despite the rules change he was going ahead with proposed

legislation that would permanently allow the acknowledgment of God in

certificates accompanying Capitol flags.

 

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is sponsoring an identical "Andrew Larochelle God,

Family, and Country Act of 2007" in the Senate.

 

Paul Larochelle, who made the flag request with his son Andrew, said he had

spoken to his son that morning and "we're very excited that in our opinion

we think the right decision has been made." He said his father Marcel, a

veteran with strong religious convictions, "was originally very disappointed

and actually saddened" by the dispute.

 

___

 

Turner's bill is H.R. 3779.

 

On the Net:

 

Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov/