Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today announced his co-sponsorship of H.R. 3779, the Andrew Larochelle God, Family, and Country Act of 2007. The legislation would codify a policy allowing inclusion of religious references on flag certificates for flags flown over the U.S. Capitol. 
 
“I was dismayed to learn about a policy of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol that prohibits the inclusion of political and religious statements on flag certificates,” said Simpson.
 
This policy has been in place since 2003 but has not been enforced until recently. The policy was brought to light when a flag certificate request that read “for the love of God, family, and Country” was returned with the word “God” excluded so that it only read “for the love of family and Country.” Because of wide-spread concern over this policy, on October 11, 2007, Acting Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers issued a memo to congressional offices changing the policy.
 
After reviewing the policy Ayers said, “The Office of the Architect of the Capitol is a service organization. Flying the flags over the Capitol is an important constituent service for Members of Congress. When one of our services or policies doesn’t effectively serve Members of Congress or the American public, it needs to be changed immediately.”
 
“I have constituents who wish to honor various milestones and special occasions in their life by having a flag flown over the United States Capitol with a personal message commemorating their event,” said Simpson. “They have a right for that message to include thoughts of religion.”
 
Members of Congress and Mr. Ayers agree that the rules and policy of expressions on flag certificates have been inappropriate and inconsistently applied over the years. While Congressman Simpson supported changing the rule administratively, he expressed his concern that without a statutory change, future administrators would be able to re-impose the ban. If H.R. 3779 becomes law, it would permanently resolve the issue for future generations.