[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.

                                  
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