Wisconsin Lawmakers Pass Bill Requiring National Anthem Be Played Before Sporting Events
For the last few years, the playing of the National Anthem at sporting events has been a heated topic.
Athletes around the country have taken to kneeling during the national anthem as a means of protest against what they see as racial injustice in the aftermath of widespread social justice protests and the Black Lives Matter movement. As a response, the national anthem is no longer played at certain sporting events.
The National Anthem must be played before any sporting events that take place at stadiums and venues that collect taxpayer funds, according to a bill approved by the Wisconsin State Assembly on Tuesday. It will now go to the State Senate before for the final vote.
he Wisconsin State Assembly passed a bill Tuesday that would require tax-supported venues to play the national anthem in the opening ceremony of sporting events. https://t.co/Mw8aBLHuBY
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Rep. Tony Kurtz, a military veteran, introduced the measure, claiming that performing the national anthem would show Wisconsin residents that they are all part of the same country.
“We are a very dysfunctional family at times that’s for sure — but we are a family, and what concerns me, once again to my core, is we are ripping ourselves apart internally in this country.” Kurtz said on Tuesday.
“A part of me worries about that. When somebody says I’m not going to play the anthem — that does concern me. Because folks, whether you like it or not we are one big family and I want people to remember that,” Kurtz also shared.
Kurtz introduced the bill promptly after Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announced that his team would no longer perform the National Anthem before home games, according to WISN in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
It was all Democrats who opposed the bill which passed with a 74-22 vote.
According to WISN, Democrat David Bowen stated, “This gets in the way of folks being able to use their right to protest.”
Rep. Lisa Subeck, Democrat from Wisconsin, voted against the measure and said, “As much as I respect our flag, as much as I believe in this country, as much as I believe in our freedom, I’m not sure it makes sense to mandate that it be played.”
The bill will also relate to youth sports and community league softball tournaments, but Kurtz feels it is more symbolic and unenforceable.
“I don’t want to make it enforceable. I want people to voluntarily do that,” Kurts stated.
