Zoe Lofgren: “I think all of us have had this experience walking into the Capitol, especially at night when we are in session, and we…”

“I think all of us have had this experience walking into the Capitol, especially at night when we are in session, and we see our beautiful American flag flying over the Capitol of the freest country in the world, and it is so moving it is almost hard to keep walking by. I think no matter where one comes down on this amendment, there is not a single Member of Congress who thinks it is good or right to deface or in any way dishonor the flag of the United States. If we felt that, we would not be elected to Congress. We would not be here serving the Nation in the freest legislative body in the world. Every day, we start our legislative session with these words: 'I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic, for which it stands, one Nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.' The flag stands for something. It stands for the freest country in the world. Our country is free for a lot of reasons. It is free because brave men and women went out and heard the call to protect us, to take up arms, and to protect us over the decades and centuries when our country was attacked by those who would not allow us to have our freedom. But we are also free because we live under the rule of law. One of the most important aspects of that is the first amendment.”