[House Report 111-586]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
111th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 111-586
======================================================================
ALL-AMERICAN FLAG ACT
_______
September 14, 2010.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Towns, from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2853]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to whom
was referred the bill (H.R. 2853) to require the purchase of
domestically made flags of the United States of America for use
by the Federal Government, having considered the same, report
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill
as amended do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 2
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 2
Legislative History.............................................. 2
Section-by-Section............................................... 2
Explanation of Amendments........................................ 3
Committee Consideration.......................................... 3
Roll Call Votes.................................................. 4
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch..................... 5
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the
Committee...................................................... 5
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 5
Constitutional Authority Statement............................... 5
Federal Advisory Committee Act................................... 5
Unfunded Mandate Statement....................................... 5
Earmark Identification........................................... 5
Committee Estimate............................................... 6
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate... 6
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 7
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``All-American Flag Act''.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR PURCHASE OF DOMESTICALLY MADE UNITED STATES
FLAGS FOR USE BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
Only such flags of the United States of America, regardless of size,
that are 100 percent manufactured in the United States, from articles,
materials, or supplies 100 percent of which are grown, produced, or
manufactured in the United States, may be acquired for use by the
Federal Government.
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO USE WORKERS AUTHORIZED TO WORK IN THE UNITED
STATES.
In carrying out section 2, the Federal Government may purchase flags
only from a manufacturer that certifies that--
(1) the manufacturer does not employ aliens who are not
authorized to be employed in the United States; and
(2) the manufacturer participates in the E-Verify Program
under section 401 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. Sec. 1324a
note).
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Section 2 shall apply to purchases of flags made on or after 180 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
H.R. 2853, the ``All-American Flag Act,'' would require
that all flags of the United States of America, regardless of
size, acquired for use by the federal government, be 100
percent manufactured in the United States. Additionally, any
articles, materials, or supplies used to manufacture or produce
the flags must be 100 percent grown, produced, or manufactured
in the United States. Current law only requires 50 percent of
the materials used to manufacture the flags for use by the
federal government to be American made.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Flags were being acquired and flown by the federal
government which were not 100 percent manufactured in the
United States. This bill requires that flags of the United
States of America, flown by the government of the United States
of America be 100 percent American made.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
H.R. 2853 was introduced by Rep. Bruce Braley on June 12,
2009, and referred to the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform on June 26, 2009. The Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform met in open markup session and ordered
H.R. 2853, as amended, to be reported favorably to the House by
a voice vote.
SECTION-BY-SECTION
Section 1: Short title
The short title of the bill is the All-American Flag Act.
Section 2: Requirement for purchase of domestically made United States
flags for use by Federal Government
This section would require all flags of the United States
of America acquired by the federal government, regardless of
size, be 100 percent manufactured in the United States, which
includes all articles, materials, or supplies which are 100
percent grown, produced, or manufactured in the United States.
Section 3: Effective date
This section would require this bill to apply to all
purchases of flags by the federal government on or after 180
days from enactment of this Act and require that all flags
purchased by the federal government be purchased from
manufacturers that certify that the manufacturer does not
employ aliens who are not authorized to work in the United
States; and that the manufacturer participates in the E-Verify
Program.
EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS
Mr. Bilbray offered an amendment which was adopted by the
Committee by a roll call vote of 15-1. Mr. Bilbray's amendment
would require that all flags purchased by the federal
government be purchased from manufacturers that certify that
the manufacturer does not employ aliens who are not authorized
to work in the United States; and that the manufacturer
participates in the E-Verify Program under section 401 of the
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of
1996 (8 U.S.C. Sec. 1324a note).
COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform met in
open session and ordered H.R. 2853, as amended, to be reported
favorably to the House by a voice vote.
APPLICATION OF LAW TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a
description of the application of this bill to the legislative
branch where the bill relates to terms and conditions of
employment or access to public services and accommodations.
This bill does not relate to the terms and conditions of
employment or access to public services and accommodations.
STATEMENT OF OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives,
the Committee's oversight findings and recommendations are
reflected in the descriptive portions of this report including
the need to ensure that flags of the United States of America,
flown by the United States of America, are manufactured from
supplies and people who are 100 percent American.
STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee's performance
goals and objectives are reflected in the descriptive portions
of this report, including the legislation's requirement for
flags of the United States of America, flown by the United
States of America, are manufactured from supplies and people
who are 100 percent American.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Under clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, the Committee must include a statement
citing the specific powers granted to Congress to enact the law
proposed by H.R. 2853. Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the
Constitution of the United States grants the Congress the power
to enact this law.
FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT
The Committee finds that the legislation does not establish
or authorize the establishment of an advisory committee within
the meaning of 5 U.S.C. App., Section 5(b).
UNFUNDED MANDATE STATEMENT
Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment
Control Act (as amended by Section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act, P.L. 104-4) requires a statement on
whether the provisions of the report include unfunded mandates.
In compliance with this requirement the Committee has received
a letter from the Congressional Budget Office included herein.
EARMARK IDENTIFICATION
H.R. 2853 does not include any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of rule XXI.
COMMITTEE ESTIMATE
Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the
Committee of the costs that would be incurred in carrying out
H.R. 2853. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides
that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has
included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the
bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act.
BUDGET AUTHORITY AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect
to requirements of clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received
the following cost estimate for H.R. 2853 from the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, August 13, 2010.
Hon. Edolphus Towns,
Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2853, the All-
American Flag Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Sunshine.
(For Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 2853--All-American Flag Act
H.R. 2853 would amend federal law to require that all flags
of the United States of America (the American flag) acquired by
the federal government be manufactured in the United States
from materials grown, produced, or manufactured in the United
States. The legislation also would require manufacturers of
U.S. flags to certify that they participate in the E-Verify
Program and that they do not employ aliens who are not
authorized to work in the United States.
Based on information from the General Services
Administration and U.S. flag vendors, CBO expects that
implementing this bill would have no significant effect on the
federal budget because the Flag Manufacturers Association of
America already certifies (through the Made in the USA program)
that manufacturers of American flags meet most of those
requirements.
Pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply because the
legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues. H.R.
2853 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates
as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not
affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew
Pickford. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED
There are no changes to existing law in this bill.