Congress Bars
Military Funeral Protesters
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, May 25, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Demonstrators
would be barred from disrupting military funerals at national cemeteries under
legislation approved by Congress and sent to the White House Wednesday
The measure, passed by voice vote in the House hours after the Senate passed an
amended version, specifically targets a Kansas church group that has staged
protests at military funerals around the country, claiming that the deaths were
a sign of God's anger at U.S. tolerance of homosexuals.
The act ''will protect the sanctity of all 122 of our national cemeteries as
shrines to their gallant dead,'' Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.,
said prior to the Senate vote.
''It's a sad but necessary measure to protect what should be recognized by all
reasonable people as a solemn, private and deeply sacred occasion,'' he said.
Under the Senate bill, approved without objection by the House with no recorded
vote, the ''Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act'' would bar protests within
300 feet of the entrance of a cemetery and within 150 feet of a road into the
cemetery from 60 minutes before to 60 minutes after a funeral. Those
violating the act would face up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison.
The sponsor of the House bill, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said he took up the
issue after attending a military funeral in his home state, where mourners were
greeted by ''chants and taunting and some of the most vile things I have ever
heard.''
''Families deserve the time to bury their American heroes with dignity and in
peace,'' Rogers said Wednesday before the House vote.
The demonstrators are led by the Rev. Fred Phelps of Topeka, Kan., who has
previously organized protests against those who died of AIDS and gay murder
victim Matthew Shepard.
In an interview when the House bill passed, Phelps said Congress was ''blatantly
violating the First Amendment'' rights to free speech in passing the bill.
He said that if the bill becomes law he will continue to demonstrate but would
abide by the restrictions.
Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican from Kansas, said the loved ones of those who die
have already sacrificed for the nation and ''we must allow them the right to
mourn without being thrust into a political circus.''
In response to the demonstrations, the Patriot Guard Riders, a motorcyle group
including many veterans, has begun appearing at military funerals to pay
respects to the fallen service member and protect the family from disruptions.
More than a dozen states are considering similar laws to restrict protests at
nonfederal cemeteries. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a
lawsuit against a new Kentucky law, saying it goes too far in limiting freedom
of speech and expression.
The bill is H.R. 5037.
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