DETROIT, MI – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, recently joined colleagues to introduce bipartisan legislation to require our federal government to purchase flags that are 100 percent produced and manufactured in the United States.
“The American flag is our nation’s most visible symbol and there is no question the United States government should buy flags that are made here at home,” said Senator Peters. “This bipartisan bill will ensure we appropriately honor this emblem that represents America’s spirit around the world and will support businesses and workers in Michigan and across the nation who manufacture our flag.”
The federal government can currently buy flags that contain only 50 percent of American-made materials. The All-American Flag Act would require the government to buy flags that contain 100 percent American-made materials and that are manufactured completely in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Census Data, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags was $4.4 million in 2015. Of that amount, $4 million of imported flags came from China. In 2017, the U.S. imported 10 million American flags. Of those, all but 50,000 came from China.
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