To amend title 4, United States Code, to encourage the display of the flag of the United States on Father's Day.

Madam. Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 42: Passage of H. Res. 475. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

January 22, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 43: Table the appeal of the ruling of the Chair for H. Res. 476. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 44: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree to H. Res. No. 52. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 45: Motion to suspend the rules and Agreed to H.R. 390. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 46: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree to H. Res. 29. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

February 8, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 87: Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 547, and amendment to include language which encourages the Assistant Administrator to utilize Land Grant Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions and other minority serving institutions among other resources to undertake research for programs covered by the bill. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district. I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 88: Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 547, an amendment to add a new paragraph to section 3, Biofuel Infrastructure and Additives Research and Development, to include issues with respect to where in the fuel supply chain additives optimally should be added to fuels. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 89: Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 547, an amendment to add a new paragraph to section 3 which includes issues with respect to certification by a nationally recognized testing laboratory of components for fuel dispensing devices that specifically reference compatibility with alcohol blended and biofuels that contain greater than 15 percent alcohol. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 90: Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 547, an amendment to add a new section 7 entitled Additional Funding. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 91:

the Motion to Recommit with Instructions of H.R. 547. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 92: Passage of H.R. 547. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

February 28, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 111: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Con. Res. 52. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

March 12, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 136: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended on H.R. 85. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 137: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 136. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 138: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 89. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 187: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as amended on H.R. 802. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 188: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended on H.R. 137. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 189: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended on H.R. 580. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

May 14, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 342: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass on H.R. 1124. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 343: Motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 223. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 344: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree (H. Res. 385). Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

May 16, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 358: Call in Committee Quorum. Had I been present, I would have voted ``present.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 359: Motion that the Committee Rise (H.R. 1585). Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

June 11, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district. I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 448: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass on H.R. 2356. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 449: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on S. 676. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district. I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 450: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 418. Had I been present I would have voted ``yes.''

July 23, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 687: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 404, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 688: Motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 553. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 689: Motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 519. Had I been present I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 690: On ordering the previous question on H. Res. 558. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

August 1, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 781: Motion to adjourn. Had I been present. I would have voted ``no.''

september 4, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 847: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 694, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 848: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3020, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 849: Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 2669. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

september 17, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 867: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3246, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 868: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 1657, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 869: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3527. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

october 1, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 924: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 185. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 925: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 2276. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 926: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3325. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

october 15, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 961: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 738. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 962: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 2089. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 963: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 20, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

October 17, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 980: Passage of H.R. 2095. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

october 29, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1010: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3224, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1011: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 573, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1012: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 747. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

November 5, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1034: Closing Portions of the Conference on H.R. 3222. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1035: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 513, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1036: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 744. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

november 7, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1058: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Con. Res. 236, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

november 13, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1082: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3315. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1083: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 1593, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1084: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3403, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1085: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3461, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

november 14, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1095: Motion to Adjourn. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

december 6, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1141: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 2085. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, thank you to Ms. Baldwin, the distinguished lady from Wisconsin for her generosity, and thanks to Mr. King and those on the other side of the aisle who are joining in this effort.

Mr. Speaker, without question, this is an extraordinary day, it is an extraordinary bill, is an extraordinary occasion. This is America, the greatest country in the world, and our flag represents greatness. To have now, finally, fruition, the manifestation of those precious words that were captured in the book of Exodus in the holy scriptures, where God said, the greatest and the first commandment in relationship of man to man were these words, ``Honor thy father,'' and then He said, ``and thy mother that thy days will be long in the land.''

Finally, today, on this day, June 11, in the year 2007, nearly 4,000 years since those words were written down and inscribed, we are finally recognizing fathers as well as mothers by making sure the flag flies not just on Mother's Day but on Father's Day as well.

In the Hebrew language, the word for ``father'' is ``abba, ``and in the Greek language it is ``pater,'' and together those words mean the begatter, the progenitor, the source. But it also means provider and protector. It is no wonder why God in His wisdom said: ``Honor thy father'' and He put father first, and our mother, and now we are rectifying that situation.

I am very delighted to be here. This is an important bill, at an important time, because never before have we needed to stress the role of father, to be a good father.

It is a gaping hole in the fabric of America that fathers are not being fathers. Throughout so many aspects of our society, the American flag is one of the greatest symbols of our country. It is the representation of our freedoms, our values, our heritage as a Nation.

As Americans, our flag code instructs us to fly the flag every day, but especially on a number of very special significant Federal, religious, and cultural holidays. For many years, this list of occasions has included Veterans Day, President's day, Columbus Day and Mother's Day.

In the past several years, the list was amended to include the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s observation of his birthday as a national holiday, in honor of his outstanding contributions that he made in his lifetime to the advancement of the civil rights of all Americans.

But our flag code currently does not reflect the important roles of both men and women in the raising of children, and never before have we needed to emphasize that. It is time that this body officially recognizes the importance of American fathers by passing this important legislation today.

I am pleased that the House is considering H.R. 2356, for fathers play an extraordinary role in the development of children. Psychologists have emphasized that the presence of a father significantly influences a child's development in many ways. Infants not only distinguish between their father and strangers' voices within the first 4 weeks of life, but infants also recognize that a father is likely to engage in play time with them.

That first impression, to hear that strong comforting voice of a father, to balance that with the mother, is so critical in the development of our children. In later years, the relationship between a father and his children strongly influences success in the classroom, improves relationships with peers, and decreases the likelihood of negative behavior.

Is there any wonder that today in so many reaches and depths in our neighborhoods that there is negative behavior, and that is so much associated because there is not a father being a father in the home and in the life of that child.

The presence of a father is also a very important determinant in the child's socioeconomic potential later in life. Unfortunately, over the last four decades, research shows that there has been an unprecedented rise in this Nation in the number of fatherless homes, especially when they are first born, no father.

The National Fatherhood Initiative emphasizes that children from families with fathers are five times less likely to be poor. What is the answer to poverty? Getting the fathers who produce these children to be fathers, to take care of these children and be responsible for these children.

It is important for Congress to emphasize the significance of fathers and their socioeconomic value of the two-parent family as well, for studies also show that children are more likely to engage in recreational activities when their fathers are present. When fathers are involved in organized sports such as soccer, baseball and basketball, they are not only encouraging physical activity in their children, but also character development and sportsmanship.

Fathers also benefit for participating in their children's teams, as physical activity contributes to increased wellness and disease prevention in men. Fathers who are active in child rearing may also find themselves more nurturing toward their colleagues in the workplace, improving other aspects of their lives, by taking younger coworkers under their wing or volunteering more time to charitable organizations as well.

Schools across this country are developing innovative programs to reach out to parents and to especially get fathers involved in various and positive activities. In Kansas City, Missouri, the Reconnecting Education and DADS organization developed a specific reading program for fathers to use with their children.

The Kindering Center of Belleview, Washington, created a weekly support group for fathers of children with special needs. All over the country, schools are facilitating courses in responsible fatherhood, including education on child development, managing stress and good nutrition for their children and themselves.

I want to take just a minute here to acknowledge the important work of a similar organization in my own congressional district in Georgia. These men, these fathers are making a difference in the lives of our children by volunteering their time to improve the learning environment, not only for the children, but the many others who are within the school as well. They call it the DADS organization, DADS, whose acronym stands for Diverse and Dedicated Support, and it is a collective effort by fathers in my congressional district to serve as role models, not the athlete, not the rap guy, not the singer, not the superstars. The great role models for our young people need to be their fathers. By doing this today, this Congress is making this bold and much-needed statement.

This program places fathers of students in Clayton County, Georgia, middle schools to serve as hallway and classroom monitors to help with the discipline problems in our schools. Who better to do that, helping faculty to maintain order as students transition between classes throughout the day. This is where the violence sometimes starts. But with a parent there, particularly a father, a strong male presence, these men also serve as tutors when students need the help the most,

including Clayton County students to pursue their education and their dreams.

One self-employed volunteer at Lovejoy Middle School works while students are in class, and takes breaks throughout the day to monitor hallways and classrooms. That's a father.

Another volunteer, a wounded veteran from the war in Iraq, not only sacrificing his life in Iraq, where he was wounded, but he comes back home in Clayton County, Georgia, and walks the halls of Adamson Middle School with a cane. What a sight. These are heroes. No greater role model could we find than this wounded veteran who was wounded in Iraq, but comes back to help shape the lives of our young people in school.

He came so that he may assist the faculty in ensuring good discipline among the students. I am so honored, I am so full, I am overflowing up here today to know these fathers are making the ultimate difference in our communities and in my district. These men are not just fathers to individual students. They are dads to the children who lack the involvement of a father in their lives. The expansion of this program to elementary and high school underscores the success to reach out and encourage the involvement of fathers both inside the school and out.

In closing, I want to also note that many children from single-parent families are doing well. They are succeeding. But just think what it would be if they had both parents there, if they had been raised to be upstanding and successful members of our community. By passing this legislation today, we will show our support for the important roles that fathers, as well as mothers, play in preparing future generations in this country.

Honor thy father and thy mother so that thy days will be long in the land. We are doing that in Congress today, with extraordinary important, meaningful, and significant legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of this legislation which would add Father's Day, the third Sunday in June, to the list of holidays listed in the U.S. flag code on which it's particularly appropriate to fly the American flag.

It's altogether appropriate that Father's Day be added to the list of holidays on which the flag should be flown. Both fathers and mothers are essential elements to the basic family unit that has made America so strong. And so the flag should be flown proudly on both Father's Day, as provided by this bill, and on Mother's Day, as already provided in existing law, as a sign of respect for both mothers and fathers and the essential role the traditional family plays in raising new citizens in our democracy.

I would add, I want to also thank Congressman Todd Tiahrt for bringing this initiative to Congress. It's interesting to note that there was a class in his district that when they were studying the history and studying the days that the Federal Government encourages display of the flag, they noticed that Father's Day was missing. They had written a letter to Congressman Tiahrt asking that he take action on this, and he has introduced a bill and it complements this bill before us.

So I thank him for that and I wanted to emphasize how important it is for citizens to weigh in and to reach out and communicate with Members of Congress because here's a perfect example of how young people saw a gap, had their voice heard, and we have an opportunity here now to fill that gap.

The first Father's Day celebration occurred in Fairmont, West Virginia, in 1908, and the first Mother's Day celebration occurred just 15 miles away in Grafton, West Virginia. So that neighborhood is the home now of Father's Day and Mother's Day. But it's a historical anomaly that Mother's Day and Father's Day were instituted so close in time, but it has taken until today for the House to pass a bill to add Father's Day to the day on which it's especially appropriate to fly the flag.

President Calvin Coolidge recommended Father's Day as a national holiday in 1924; and in 1966, President Johnson made Father's Day a holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday of June. The holiday was officially recognized in 1972, during the Presidency of Richard Nixon. I look forward to President Bush signing this legislation into law and encouraging all Americans to fly the flag of their own fatherhood celebrations, which will happen at my house.

And as a father, I'm particularly pleased to be here on the eve of the next Father's Day, helping support this piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Mr. Speaker, listening to Mr. Scott talk about the importance of fathers and mothers in the family and the home and the children, I can't any longer resist reflecting through the generation and what this means to me as we discuss this bill that will encourage the special attention to flying the flag on Father's Day.

All of us, each of us has a father. We don't always get to know that father, but I certainly got to know mine. There is hardly a day that goes by that I don't think of him.

I know that there is never a day that goes by that his influence on me doesn't show up in me in something that I do. I look at the grandfathers that I have known. I had the privilege of knowing one of my grandfathers. I watched the message that came from them, the work ethic and the history, and to sit on his knee and to listen to him tell me about his father and his grandfather and the relation of the families and about how far it goes back and rooted into the settlers that came across the country, the pioneers.

My grandfather on my mother's side was sent at a young age, about 13 years old, to go from Indiana to Iowa, to go work on a farm that had only daughters and no sons. What little bit of pay that he got, even at that young age, he had to send back to Indiana. Then when he needed a pair of shoes, he had to write a letter and ask, can I have some money, I need a pair of shoes.

Well, he was a smart young man, and he married the farmer's daughter, and another generation began. That farmer's daughter and that fellow, of course, that young man, were the parents to my mother.

But on my father's side, my father taught me some things that I think have been invaluable in my life. He was the one that always challenged me. Every evening we sat down, all our life was about like the book ``Fun with Dick and Jane.'' Every evening we sat down at the supper table, and Dad carried the conversation. It was either about his day at work, or it was about current events, and then sometimes and oftentimes it was the same thing, given his job. He was the one that taught me to be intellectually honest.

First, you listened before you spoke, and you looked for an opportunity, and the amount of seniority you had in the family and credibility gave you a little bit more opportunity to speak. But if you spoke, and you could not support the statement that you made, he would be there to challenge you on what do you support that statement with. Why can you make a statement like that when these are the countervailing facts?

So, from a young age, one of the most important things my father taught me was to be intellectually honest and expect to be challenged if you are not intellectually honest.

On one of those occasions we began a discussion of whether you can convert watts to horsepower. We had a debate going on, an argument going on, that lasted for 3 days. Every night at supper, I would start that debate up again.

Then I went to the school library and went through a book and finally found the equation that showed how to do the math between watts and horsepower. I snuck that book down to the supper table, marked it, set it on my knees throughout supper. Then when we finished eating and the conversation began, we went into that discussion again.

When I got him just to the right point in the conversation that I could win the debate, I pulled out the book, opened it up to the formula and said here, so many watts equals horsepower. I thought I had the argument won. But I had not been apparently intellectually honest enough, because he said, that's not what I am talking about. Horsepower is mechanical power, watts is electrical power, and you can't equate the two. I learned a real important lesson there as well, but time after time, day after day, the important values of hard work and ethics and integrity and telling the truth and knowing that when I looked him in the eye he knew what was in my mind and he knew what was in my soul.

Even when I watch my hands work today, they are the hands of my father doing that work. When I come here to work here in this Congress, I know that I just don't represent the 600,000 people in my district, which is a profound thing and a tremendous honor to be able to do that, but all of us are the legacy of our fathers and mothers, the work ethic that they taught us, the values that they taught us. We are what has come through that crucible. We are the representatives of the generations.

And to be those representatives, we can thank two people in our lives more than any others, and that's our fathers and our mothers. And I think that came through Mr. Scott's discussion here very well, and I appreciate that that's in the record and we had the opportunity to hear that. I wanted to add some of those words from my side of this as well.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2356) to amend title 4, United States Code, to encourage the display of the flag of the United States on Father's Day.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 2356 and include extraneous materials in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

As part of our Nation's bicentennial celebration in 1976, Congress passed a joint resolution re-emphasizing existing rules and customs pertaining to the display and use of the flag, especially recommending its display on a number of different holidays, including Mother's Day, the second Sunday in May.

Omitted from the list was Father's Day. H.R. 2356 would amend the Federal flag code to include Father's Day, the third Sunday in June, among important holidays on which to fly the American flag.

The law now provides that, in addition to the important occasions listed in the flag code, ``the flag should be displayed on all days.'' I know that this is the custom in every community in the United States.

Still, I think that it is important for the flag code to recognize both mothers and fathers, who raise the next generation, inculcate them with the values they need to be good citizens and good neighbors.

I want to thank our colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott) for his efforts to enact this worthwhile legislation.

And I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation to honor fathers in the flag code, just as we now honor mothers.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott), the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to join the gentleman from Iowa in giving special recognition to our colleague, Mr. Tiahrt of Kansas, who has also worked on this issue and is sponsoring similar legislation. This really is a remarkable bipartisan effort.

Mr. Speaker, this is simple, yet sensible legislation to accord equal honor to fathers as to mothers in the statutory guidance on flying our Nation's flag on special days of the year. I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, today I was very pleased to help honor America's fathers by voting for H.R. 2356. This bill amends title 4 of the U.S. Code that governs how and when it is appropriate to fly the flag of the United States. I recently introduced similar legislation in this Congress, and I am pleased to work with other Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to move this idea forward.

Prior to 1923, flag etiquette was not established in U.S. law. Handling of the flag was done in accordance with traditions that traced back to service procedures in the Army and Navy. These procedures were codified during the National Flag Conference in 1923. Congress solidified these procedures in a joint resolution in 1942.

Contained within this code is a list of holidays on which it is especially appropriate to fly the flag. Independence Day, Memorial Day and Veterans' Day are among the holidays listed. Mother's Day is rightfully on the list of recognized holidays. Unfortunately, Father's Day is not.

This idea was actually suggested to me by Mr. Joe Beffer's 8th grade civics class at Roosevelt Middle School in Coffeyville, Kansas. The students had a six week assignment to replicate the legislative process, complete with elected Representatives, Senators, and a President.

One young man noticed that our flag code did not recognize Father's Day as a holiday on which it is especially encouraged to fly our Nation's flag. He offered a bill to add Father's Day to the honored holidays and it passed their replica Congress. I was honored when the class passed their idea to me. I am pleased to be a part of this Congress' efforts to help honor the contributions America's fathers continue to make to our strong Nation.