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American Flag with Congress Signatures For Sale on eBay

Aired November 22, 2001 - 09:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now this Thanksgiving you can bid on a one-of-a-kind American flag on eBay. This is flag has been flown over the U.S. Capitol and it's now framed and the matting around it -- the flag contains the signatures of every sitting member of the current U.S. Congress. Proceeds from the sale are going to go to help victims and their families and the communities also affected by the September 11 attacks.

Now this flag was donated by Texas Congresswoman Kay Granger who joins us from New York this morning.

Good morning, happy Thanksgiving to you.

REP. KAY GRANGER (R), TEXAS: Happy Thanksgiving to you.

HARRIS: Well where did this idea come from?

GRANGER: It really came from just this wonderful outpouring of flags and patriotism that's happened since September the 11th. I had just left the Pentagon when that plane hit the Pentagon. I was having breakfast with the Secretary of Defense, and one of the most heartwarming things was to immediately see those flags appearing in every window and back home in Fort Worth, Texas, in every home.

HARRIS: Now let me ask you this, how long did it take you to get all the signatures?

GRANGER: It took -- it took a little while. We had to go, really, office to office. In some cases, stand outside the chamber and kind of grab people by lapels, say please, this is really a good thing for us to do, and the Congress responded beautifully, but it took a couple of weeks.

HARRIS: Oh yeah, I can't imagine anyone would tell you no.

GRANGER: No, they didn't tell us no, of course not.

HARRIS: All right, well then what do -- how much do you expect something like this to go for?

GRANGER: Well it's -- $17,500 is the bid right now. They -- everyone has until 6:41 a.m. tomorrow, so you really need to get busy if you're going to bid on this flag. HARRIS: All right. Now you've got to tell them why it is so important that they bid on this particular flag. There's something that's...

GRANGER: Well,...

HARRIS: ... something special about this one, correct?

GRANGER: ... what's special about it is, to best of our knowledge and the Congressional Research Service, this is the only document ever signed, that we can find, ever signed by every member of the House and every member of the Senate. It's a personal signature. I saw them sign, so it is one of a kind.

HARRIS: That's amazing that there is no other single document that has the signature of every single sitting member of Congress.

GRANGER: That's right, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, some missed and so it's not a complete signature. And as they've researched it and as far as they can tell, this is the first time.

HARRIS: Oh that's right, I forgot, that's one thing you just reminded me about from my history class, there were a few people that weren't able to sign that.

GRANGER: Right.

HARRIS: Well if that's the case, shouldn't we have the same -- have another one done to save for posterity for other -- for -- maybe not necessarily for another auction, but for other reasons?

GRANGER: Yes. Yes, it's a wonderful thing to do, and I got to keep it in my office. I hate to give it up, but I hope it goes for a good price because it's for the relief of those victims of September 11. It was a wonderful thing for us to be able to do.

HARRIS: Well it's a wonderful thing for you to share with us this morning. We sure do appreciate it -- Congressman Kay Granger.

GRANGER: Thank you.

HARRIS: And again, that is on -- it's on eBay and the standing bid right now is...

GRANGER: $17,500.

HARRIS: All right, folks, get your checkbooks out right now.

GRANGER: OK (ph).

HARRIS: Congratulations and good luck.

GRANGER: Thank you very much.

HARRIS: Happy Thanksgiving. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com