Bipartisan bill requiring American flag to be made in USA heads to Biden’s desk

Bipartisanship reigned briefly in Congress as the U.S. House belatedly sent a bill to the White House that would require federal agencies to only buy American flags from American manufacturers with American-made materials.

The All-American Flag Act was one of the last pieces of business conducted by Congress before it started its summer break.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan; Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Sen. Joe Manchin, I-West Virginia.

“American flags should be made in America, period. Today, half of the materials that our women and men in uniform fight under can be made in China. We have to change that,” said Brown in a statement. 

Brown’s office said that in “2015, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags was $4.4 million.” 

Of those imports, $4 million came from China. 

“It’s plain and simple: the United States flag, which serves as a symbol of our founding history and values, should not be made overseas,” said Manchin. 

Brown’s office said that under current law the federal government can buy flags that contain only 50% American made materials. 

The new bill protecting American flag makers was passed out of the Senate and moved to the House of Representatives in November, where it was held until July 22, 2024, when Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, moved to suspend the rules for consideration of the bill. 

After 40 minutes of debate, the motion was then passed on a voice vote, according to a Congressional diary of the bill.  

No reason has been given why Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Republican, delayed the vote. 

Brown and Collins introduced similar legislation in 2011, 2014 and 2018, but those bills were also dumped in the U.S. House under GOP Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan.  

Under the new law manufacturers will be required to keep records of material purchases related to the manufacture of American flags sold to the federal government for five years to prove that the flags and materials were “100% produced or manufactured in the United States.”   

Certain exceptions to the law are allowed under a Presidential waiver, for vessels at sea, at U.S. foreign military outposts or when domestic manufacturers can’t meet demand.  

“Now, because of our years of effort to pass this bill, American flags the federal government buys will be produced and manufactured in America, by American workers. The President needs to sign this bill into law without delay,” said Brown. 

President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill.