June 24, 2004 – The Republican-controlled Senate backed the Bush administration's policy of banning photos of flag-covered coffins of service members killed in Iraq, defeating on Monday a Democrat-initiated legislation to force the Pentagon to allow them. The measure, which was defeated 54-39, was proposed by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), and would have amended the $447.2 billion Pentagon spending plan for 2005.
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According to the New York Times, the Pentagon decreed in March 2003 there would be no news coverage of "deceased military personnel returning to or departing from" air bases. President Bush has argued that allowing photographs would invade the privacy of the families of the deceased solders.
Lautenberg's amendment proposed that the Department of Defense create a way to permit the news media to cover the return of the coffins without disturbing the privacy of the families involved. The Times reports Lautenberg said the amendment "would bring an end to the shroud of secrecy cloaking the hard, difficult truth about war and the sacrifices of our soldiers."
