Tom Harkin: “today I am introducing one last bill as a United States Senator. It is on an issue I have long wanted to tackle…”

“today I am introducing one last bill as a United States Senator. It is on an issue I have long wanted to tackle, changing our national anthem to one I believe is more representative of the amazing country and people that make up our United States of America. I believe that from its very first line, ``Oh beautiful for spacious skies'' America the Beautiful captures the spirit of our democracy and our shared commitment to liberty and freedom far better than our current anthem. Now some might say but the Star Spangled Banner has always been our national anthem, but that's not true. In fact its only been the anthem since 1931 and its only been in popular use during the last 100 years. It first became popular with the military, particularly the Navy. But the bottom line is that the Star Spangled banner commemorates a single battle, just one of the many historic battles and wars that we have fought to create and protect our great country.…”