"Warren E. Barry, the state senator from Fairfax County who last year brought a moment of silence to 1.1 million Virginia school children, noticed something as he toured schools in Northern Virginia to see how students were greeting the new law.

What he saw appalled him. There was silence at the wrong moment: Some children weren't reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. So a new idea came to the former U.S. Marine, a veteran Republican lawmaker. Virginia should require students in every public school classroom to recite the pledge each morning.

'A lot of kids don't stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, and as a former Marine, I find that unconscionable,' said Barry, 67, whose unit evacuted U.S. civilians to safety during the 1956 Sinai War.

'These kids have no understanding of what the American flag symbolizes. If they refuse to salute the flag, I think they belong elsewhere.'

Barry's school visits are about to touch off a new round in the nation's century-old struggle over the pledge and whether government can, or should, legislate patriotism.

The measure has the backing of Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R). 'Really, it's more of a comment on the culture of the country than anything else---the fact that we would even be worried about it tells you that the culture of the country has changed,' said Gilmore, now head of the Republican National Committee.

Virginia now leaves it to local school districts to set the rules on the pledge, and state guidelines stress that students cannot be compelled to participate.

Barry's bill, scheduled to go before a Senate committee this morning would require students to learn the pledge and stand to recite it. Any student who objects on religious grounds would have to provide the school principal with a written note from a clergy member explaining the objection. The student would have to stand quietly--with no option to sit--while peers salute the flag, and anyone who disrupts the pledge would face suspension.

Barry said he has enough support on the Senate's Education and Health Committee, which includes some of the General Assembly's strongest social conservatives, to bring his bill to the full Senate, which voted last year to require schools to observe a moment of silence.

Virginia lawmakers have shown a willingness to push the boundaries of social legislation. A measure sponsored by a Christian conservative from Prince William County that would require the national motto 'In God We Trust' to be displayed in every school cleared the House's education committee today by a 12 to 7 vote.

But civil libertarians have assailed the pledge bill as an unconstitutional, back-door introduction to forced praying in school. While 20 states, including Maryland, have passed laws requiring schools to lead the pledge, they allow students with religious or philosophical objections to abstain from the ritual, leaving participation up to the student.

The region around the nation's capital reflects the mixture of policies throughout the nation, which include weekly recitations in Wisconsin and state-mandated instruction on the flag's history and display in Georgia.

Maryland requires school districts to recite the pledge once a day but allow students to sit it out The District leaves it up to individual schools.

Barry's bill puts the onus on students to have someone substantiate their objection.

'Barry has offered one way out, but he has not offered the way out the courts require, which is that the government cannot compel anyone to say something you don't believe,' said Kent Willis, ex director of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Some state legislators and a Gilmore spokeswoman said the bill may need to be tweaked to address those constitutional questions. But support for a mandatory pledge appears strong in the Assembly's GOP majority, especially in the House of Delegates.

'Anything we can do to have a resurgence of patriotism and fidelity to values is a good thing... If you're offended by the pledge, you probably ought to move,' said Del. Robert F. McDonnell (R-Virginia Beach). Beach).

The Pledge of Allegiance has been parsed and debated by scholars and ordinary people throughout its 109-year history. And it has been a matter of contention in the country's cultural wars.

Then-Vice President George Bush questioned the judgment of Democratic presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis in 1988 for vetoing state legislation requiring teachers in Massachusetts to lead their students in the pledge.

The pledge was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a socialist and former minister, to be used in schools as part of the country's observance of the 400th anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the New World. In 1954, in a conservative, anti-communist era, it inspired President Dwight D. Eisenhower to seek congressional action adding the words 'Under God.'

Generations ago, children who failed to salute were sometimes ostracized and publicly harassed. In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jehovah's Witnesses and against West Virginia, where children had been expelled for failing to salute the flag.

Several Northern Virginia educators were skeptical that requiring a pledge would do much to change the values of their students.

'Patriotism is a value. It's something that has to be developed, said Joseph W. Vogric, chairman of the Loudoun County School Board, where schools use the pledge.

The pledge could prove a compelling issue this year The Virginia House's 100 members are up for reelection in November.

State Attorney General Mark L. Earley and Lt. Gov. John H. Hager, vying for the GOP nomination for governor, said they support the idea, although Earley added that his office was reviewing it to make sure it passed constitutional muster. Mark R. Warner, the Democratic candidate for governor, expressed concern about whether a mandatory pledge is constitutional.

The Pledge of Allegiance

'I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'

The History

1892: Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, offers original wording, published in The Youth's Companion magazine. Students are asked to recite it on Oct. 12, the 400th anniversary of Columbus' landing.

1942: Congress officially endorses the Pledge of Allegiance. Various wording changes had been made over the years.

1943: Supreme Court rules that students cannot be forced to recite the pledge.

1954: Congress adds the words 'under God'" (Lisa Rein, The Washington Post, January 25, 2001).