All-American Flag Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. SORENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin) and the gentlewoman from South Carolina (Ms. Mace) for working on this effort with me.
Today, I ask this governing body: What is the most American thing that Members can think of? Is it George Washington, who looks over us? Is it the dome of the Capitol Building, under which Members do the work of the people?
Mr. Speaker, I believe the most American thing is the symbol that flies on my home in Moline, Illinois, on top of this important building, on the back of every ship that carries our military, and which is displayed so proudly behind the Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand here and see S. 1973, the All- American Flag Act, considered on the floor of the House of Representatives. Under current law, the government can buy flags that contain just 50 percent American-made materials, but I believe that American flags, paid for by American taxpayers, should be entirely made in the greatest country in the world, by the greatest workers in the world.
My bill would require the Federal Government to buy flags that are manufactured 100 percent in the United States, with materials 100 percent grown or produced in the United States.
In 2021, my home State of Illinois passed a law that all American flags purchased must be American made.
This legislation will bring the values of our neighbors back home to the Federal Government. Whether it is over a post office in Kewanee, Illinois, accompanying our troops to battle, or on a casket of a fallen hero, our patriotism has to begin and end here in this country.
In 1906, George Cohan wrote ``You're a Grand Old Flag.'' The song's signature lyric, ``She's a Grand Old Flag,'' came from a conversation that he had with a Civil War veteran who fought at Gettysburg.
My bill will ensure that all grand flags are made in this grand land. I am proud to see my bill come to the House floor today, and I urge all of my patriotic colleagues to be proud of their support for its swift passage and for our great Nation.
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