May 09, 2007
House panel defeats POW/MIA flag bill
By Terry Date , Staff writer
Eagle-Tribune
CONCORD - Supporters of a bill that proposes flying the POW/MIA flag outside all New Hampshire courthouses say they are shocked and disappointed that it was killed yesterday by the House Judiciary Committee.
State Sen. Jack Barnes, R-Raymond, is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 27, which sailed through that legislative body last winter but was deemed inexpedient to legislate in a 10-6 vote by the House panel.
Barnes said he was glad he was not present to hear some of the arguments against the bill in committee yesterday because he would have probably wound up in a Concord jail awaiting someone to bail him out if his comments had been heard.
Barnes said he would not talk specifically about what angered him because he did not want to become angry all over again. But the senator did say that Judiciary Committee members Maureen Mooney, R-Merrimack, and Donald Buxton, R-Epping, knew what had irked him.
Mooney said Barnes was angry at comments made by Rep. Philip Preston, D-Ashland, and others, the gist of which was that if the POW/MIA flag were to fly outside New Hampshire courthouses, others should be flown as well.
Preston was not immediately available for comment.
Barnes said he proposed the bill on behalf of POWs and MIAs and their families, noting that he hopes the entire House will support the bill when it goes before it, possibly by next week.
Meanwhile, Buxton said he hopes someone on the prevailing side of the Judiciary Committee will file a motion to reconsider the bill. The voting was largely along party lines, with 10 Democrats voting to kill the legislation. Two Democrats joined four Republicans in support of the bill.
Barnes said earlier that the bill has special meaning for him, a Korean War veteran who first ran for state Senate to advocate for the flag's display at the Statehouse.
That bill became law.
Six servicemen from New Hampshire are listed among those missing in action since the Vietnam War.
Mooney said the POW/MIA flag bill is intended to show gratitude and respect to all American veterans who are unaccounted for and do not have a resting place.
House member Al Baldasaro, R-Londonderry, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said he was very angry over the bill's defeat.
"I think it's a disgrace," he said. "I think it's a slap in the face."
House panel defeats POW/MIA flag bill
By Terry Date , Staff writer
Eagle-Tribune
CONCORD - Supporters of a bill that proposes flying the POW/MIA flag outside all New Hampshire courthouses say they are shocked and disappointed that it was killed yesterday by the House Judiciary Committee.
State Sen. Jack Barnes, R-Raymond, is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 27, which sailed through that legislative body last winter but was deemed inexpedient to legislate in a 10-6 vote by the House panel.
Barnes said he was glad he was not present to hear some of the arguments against the bill in committee yesterday because he would have probably wound up in a Concord jail awaiting someone to bail him out if his comments had been heard.
Barnes said he would not talk specifically about what angered him because he did not want to become angry all over again. But the senator did say that Judiciary Committee members Maureen Mooney, R-Merrimack, and Donald Buxton, R-Epping, knew what had irked him.
Mooney said Barnes was angry at comments made by Rep. Philip Preston, D-Ashland, and others, the gist of which was that if the POW/MIA flag were to fly outside New Hampshire courthouses, others should be flown as well.
Preston was not immediately available for comment.
Barnes said he proposed the bill on behalf of POWs and MIAs and their families, noting that he hopes the entire House will support the bill when it goes before it, possibly by next week.
Meanwhile, Buxton said he hopes someone on the prevailing side of the Judiciary Committee will file a motion to reconsider the bill. The voting was largely along party lines, with 10 Democrats voting to kill the legislation. Two Democrats joined four Republicans in support of the bill.
Barnes said earlier that the bill has special meaning for him, a Korean War veteran who first ran for state Senate to advocate for the flag's display at the Statehouse.
That bill became law.
Six servicemen from New Hampshire are listed among those missing in action since the Vietnam War.
Mooney said the POW/MIA flag bill is intended to show gratitude and respect to all American veterans who are unaccounted for and do not have a resting place.
House member Al Baldasaro, R-Londonderry, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said he was very angry over the bill's defeat.
"I think it's a disgrace," he said. "I think it's a slap in the face."
