Federation Council endorses Victory Banner bill
MOSCOW. May 4 (Interfax) - The Federation Council has approved a bill on the Victory Banner as revised by the conciliation commission.
Senators discussed the bill for the first time in mid-April. The majority of senators then opposed the bill passed by the State Duma, which provided that a copy of the flag raised atop the Reichstag in Berlin on May 1, 1945 have a five-pointed white star on a red field without the hammer and sickle.
The senators voted it down, saying that the hammer and sickle must remain on the Victory Banner.
The bill was sent back to the Duma, which in its turn overcame the Federation Council’s veto. However, the president subsequently vetoed it. The conciliation commission, consisting of members of the both chambers of the Russian parliament, then revised the bill.
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FC approves law on Victory Banner
04.05.2007, 10.45
MOSCOW, May 4 (Itar-Tass) - The Federation Council approved the law on the Victory Banner on Friday. It establishes the status and the procedure for the official use and for the keeping of the Victory Banner and its copies.
The present version of the law was adopted by the State Duma on April 25. It was drawn up by the conciliatory commission. The first versions of the law, which introduced the notion of the “symbol of the Victory Banner,” was rejected first by the Federation Council and then by the President, because the symbol of the Victory Banner differed from the banner, which had been hoisted by Soviet Army soldiers over the Reichstag.
According to FC Speaker, the law has been adopted in the version, “which we all need.” “The new version of the law was adopted under the impact of public opinion,” said Lyudmila Narusova, head of the FC commission for information policy.
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