WASHINGTON NEWS IN BRIEF: Lawmakers back Juneteenth holiday | Womack bid seeks flag-burning ban | Measure supports VA mammograms

Lawmakers back Juneteenth holiday

WASHINGTON -- All six members of the Arkansas congressional delegation voted last week to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

The celebration recalls June 19, 1865, the day Galveston, Texas, residents were informed by federal troops that the late President Abraham Lincoln had signed an emancipation proclamation freeing enslaved Blacks.

"Juneteenth really fits into a set of our national holidays that celebrate America and the promise of America," U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Little Rock, said in an interview.

"Independence Day is, of course, the centerpiece holiday since we celebrate the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July and it's recognition that all men are created equal in the eyes of God and have equal rights that our government is instituted to protect," he said.

"Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Day, I think, will help Americans remember and celebrate the progress we have made, over time, to fully realizing that promise and practice, something in which all Americans are immensely proud," he said.

"Days like Veterans Day and Memorial Day are a reminder to remember and celebrate those who fought and died for that promise. And Thanksgiving is a day for us to give thanks to God for all those blessings," he said.

U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford of Jonesboro also supported the holiday.

"I'm surprised it wasn't unanimous," he said in an interview.

Fourteen House Republicans opposed the measure. Two did not vote.

"It's a watershed moment, not only for the African American community but, I think, for the whole country," Crawford said. "Anytime you can celebrate freedom, it should be celebrated. There are countries all over the world that wish they had the freedoms we have here in the United States."

Womack bid seeks flag-burning ban

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, a Republican from Rogers, introduced a constitutional amendment Monday to outlaw flag-burning.

U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, a Republican from Jonesboro, and seven other Republicans have co-sponsored the joint resolution that proposes the change.

If approved it would give Congress "power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., introduced the flag-related resolution in the Senate.

Statutes that previously barred flag-burning were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989.

In a 5-4 decision, the justices said flag-burning is constitutionally-protected "symbolic speech."

Since then, there have been repeated calls by some in Congress to pass a constitutional amendment addressing the topic.

To become the 28th amendment, the proposal would need support from a supermajority -- two-thirds -- of both the House and the Senate.

It would then need to be ratified by at least three-fourths of the states: 38 of the 50.

Since 1995, the resolution has repeatedly received enough votes in the House to be forwarded to the states. It has failed in the Senate.

In 2006, Senate supporters fell short by a single vote, 66-34.

Measure supports VA mammograms

U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., introduced legislation Thursday that would "direct the Under Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide mammography screening for veterans who served in locations associated with toxic exposure."

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is co-sponsoring the bipartisan measure, which they've dubbed the Supporting Expanded Review for Veterans in Combat Environments (SERVICE) Act.

The measure was referred to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, where Boozman, a lawmaker from Rogers, is a member.

In a news release, the senators said their legislation would "require the [Department of Veterans Affairs] to conduct mammograms for all women who served in areas associated with burn pits and other toxic exposures regardless of age, symptoms or family history."

The bill would also direct the department to prepare a report within two years of enactment "that compares the rates of breast cancer among members of the Armed Forces and the civilian population."

Leading veterans groups, including the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, have voiced support for the legislation.

A study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal "Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention" found "differences in cancer incidence rates between military personnel and the general population."

Service members, the 2009 report found, were more likely than the general population to end up with prostate and breast cancers.

"Improving the VA's procedures for mammography screenings will help ensure our women veterans are able to live long and healthy lives," Boozman said in a news release.

Wyden said the bill would "expand access to life-saving VA care and services," noting that women veterans "may be at much higher risk of developing breast cancer and deserve access to early detection and treatment."

Planning to visit the nation's capital? Know something happening in Washington, D.C.? Please contact Frank Lockwood at (501) 908-5204 or flockwood@adgnewsroom.com. Want to get the latest from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Washington bureau? It's available on Twitter, @LockwoodFrank.

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