State Sen. Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa) believes the current state of the world requires Americans to defend their traditional values, and he’s putting forward a piece of legislation that would help in that effort.
The Alabama lawmaker has pre-filed a bill that would make it illegal to fly certain flags on public property.
Allen recently discussed the issue on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program.”
Allen reflected, “certain symbols remind us who we are and stay focused on those things that have made this country great.”
Senate Bill 4 would make it Class C misdemeanor for an individual to “place, hoist, or display a flag” on public property outside of some exceptions.
“The bill itself lists out the flags that can be flown on public property,” he explained. “It’s a total of about 11 different flags…The United States flag, and for instance it might be the cities or town type flags, the Boy Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts of America, the Red Cross, and ex-prisoners of war, the POW.”
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Allen said the one of them main purposes of his bill is to promote the Freedom Flag, which was created in 2001 in remembrance of the 9/11 terror attacks.
“We must be focused and understand and not forget what took place on 9/11,” he argued. “At the same time, the piece of legislation that’s out, it lays it out pretty clearly on what we can and cannot do. I think it’s appropriate because you and I and other citizens of this state are joint heirs of public property and certainly we want to make sure that appropriate flags are flown.”
Sen. Allen has also put forward a bill that would require public schools to play the national anthem once a week. Allen said both bills are about promoting and protecting the greatness of America.
“We must defend and protect the idea of freedom and know what we stand for,” he said, “and know that the founding fathers and other men and women through the ages that have given their time and given their lives to protect this great land of ours and the freedom that we enjoy.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
