VETERANS MAY SALUTE THE FLAG WHILE NOT IN UNIFORM

Congress has included the provisions of H.R.3380 and S.1877 in H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, which President Bush signed into law on January 28th, 2008! The relevant section is Section 594 of the resolution and reads as follows:

SEC. 594. CONDUCT BY MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND VETERANS OUT OF UNIFORM DURING HOISTING, LOWERING, OR PASSING OF UNITED STATES FLAG.

Section 9 of title 4, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘all persons present’’ and all that follows through the end of the section and inserting the following: ‘‘all persons present in uniform should render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present but not in uniform may render the military salute. All other persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart, or if applicable, remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Citizens of other countries present should stand at attention. All such conduct toward the flag in a moving column should be rendered at the moment the flag passes