According to a press release sent from the office of Senator Janet Nguyen, due to the “flag-banning” “incident” that occurred last week at the University of California, Irvine—wherein six members of the Legislative Student Council voted to ban all flags, including the US flag, from being displayed in the Student Government building, a move that was vetoed days later by student leaders—Nguyen and many of her colleagues jointly announced Monday afternoon that they will introduce a Senate Constitutional Amendment on Wednesday, prohibiting state-funded colleges and universities from banning the United States flag on campuses.
Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff, Assembly Republican Leader Kristin Olsen, Senators Pat Bates, Jim Nielsen, Jeff Stone, Mike Morrell and Jean Fuller, Assemblymembers Matt Harper, Don Wagner and Bill Brough, were joined by Pete Conaty, an advocate representing Veteran’s groups, Ted Adams, president of Chapter 500, Vietnam Veterans of America and Fred Romero president of the Cesar Chavez Chapter of the American GI Forum and other representatives from veteran’s service organizations as Senator Nguyen made the announcement, according to the release.
“I came to this country as an immigrant searching for freedom and democracy and I would not be here today if it were not for the American flag,” said Senator Nguyen in a statement. “The veterans that are with us here today and the thousands of servicemen and women fighting throughout the world deserve for us to make every effort to ensure that the American flag is proudly displayed at public universities and colleges throughout California. That is why we have introduced this Senate Constitutional Amendment.”
The flag-banning incident has drawn attention to an event that could potentially occur again, read the release. This Senate Constitutional Amendment would make sure that no student or anyone else could attempt to prohibit the flag’s appearance on campus again. If the amendment is passed by the State Legislature and approved by California voters on the November 2016 ballot, it would prohibit all University of California, California State University and Community Colleges campuses from banning the United States flag.