Bill would require government to buy American-made flags

Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) has introduced legislation requiring the federal government to only purchase American flags made in the U.S. 

Under Bustos’s measure, the federal government could only buy American flags produced in the U.S. created with all materials manufactured domestically. Current law only requires flags purchased with taxpayer funds to be at least 50 percent American-made.

{mosads}Bustos said that she’s heard complaints from veterans about the federal government buying Americans flags that are actually manufactured in foreign countries.

“I strongly believe that American flags purchased with taxpayer money should be made here at home by Americans,” Bustos said in a statement. “I hear time and again from our veterans of their disappointment that too many American flags are actually made overseas, in countries like China.”

Bustos first began pursuing the issue in 2013 by proposing an amendment with similar language as her new measure to the fiscal 2014 Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security appropriations bills.