All-American Flag Act

Floor Speech

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MR. COMER

I rise today in support of H.R. 3121, introduced by Congresswoman Bustos of Illinois. H.R. 3121 is a bipartisan bill to ensure government agencies only buy United States flags made from 100 percent American- made material.

Most Americans may think American flags purchased with taxpayer money for the government are made here at home by Americans using only U.S. materials. Surprisingly, this is not a uniform requirement in current Federal acquisition laws and regulations. When it comes to the content of American flags purchased by executive agencies, the requirements under the current law are inconsistent.

The Department of Defense and the military departments generally are required to buy American flags made entirely of U.S. materials, but civilian agencies are currently permitted to buy flags that are manufactured in the U.S. consisting of only 51 percent American-made materials, or sometimes even less than that.

This bill brings all executive agencies under a single rule when it comes to the content of American flags bought by agencies across the government.

Rather than impose new rules and exceptions for DOD and civilian agency flag purchases, the All-American Flag Act recognizes and essentially adopts current DOD requirements and exceptions.

H.R. 3121 contains limited exceptions that recognize practical realities, such as domestic nonavailability, in keeping with current law governing DOD purchases in textiles, including U.S. flags.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Bustos and the many cosponsors who are leading this effort to honor America's greatest symbol of freedom, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

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