[Senate Report 117-240]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 614
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 117-240
_______________________________________________________________________
ALL-AMERICAN FLAG ACT
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 4399
TO REQUIRE THE PURCHASE OF DOMESTICALLY MADE
FLAGS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR USE
BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
December 12, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
_________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
39-010 WASHINGTON : 2023
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia RICK SCOTT, Florida
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
Evan E. Freeman, Research Assistant
Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
Sam J. Mulopulos, Minority Deputy Staff Director
Jeremy H. Hayes, Minority Senior Professional Staff Member
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 614
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 117-240
======================================================================
ALL-AMERICAN FLAG ACT
_______
December 12, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 4399]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 4399) to require
the purchase of domestically made flags of the United States of
America for use by the Federal Government, having considered
the same reports favorably thereon without amendment and
recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary............................................. 1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation......................... 2
III. Legislative History............................................. 2
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported............ 2
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact................................. 3
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate....................... 3
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported........... 6
I. Purpose and Summary
S. 4399, the All-American Flag Act, prohibits agencies from
using funds to procure a United States flag unless such flag
has been manufactured in the United States from materials
grown, produced, or manufactured domestically. The bill
specifies exceptions to this prohibition, including an
exception if flags of satisfactory quality and sufficient
quantity cannot be procured as needed at market prices.
II. Background and Need for the Legislation
According to the Department of Commerce and Census data, in
2015, the dollar value of United States imports of American
flags was $4.4 million. Of that amount, $4 million worth of
flags were imported from China.\1\ The United States Government
should, whenever possible, procure goods, products, and
materials--especially those that are representative of our
nation, such as our flag--from sources that will help American
businesses compete and help American workers thrive.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Census Bureau Releases Key Statistics in Honor of Independence
Day, Digital.gov (blog) (Jul. 5, 2016), (https://digital.gov/2016/07/
05/census-bureau-releases-key-statistics-in-honor-of-independence-day/
).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Currently, the federal government is required to buy flags
that contain at least 60 percent American-made materials.\2\ S.
4399 would expand this requirement to ensure that United States
flags procured by the federal government are produced entirely
with American-made materials and manufactured completely in the
United States.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Pub. L. No. 117-58,
Title IX (2021); see also Exec. Order No. 14005, 86 Fed. Reg. 7475
(Jan. 25, 2021).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Legislative History
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced S. 4399 on June 14,
2022 with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Senator Joe Manchin (D-
WV), and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) as cosponsors. The bill was
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs.
The Committee considered S. 4399 at a business meeting on
September 28, 2022. During the business meeting, S. 4399 was
ordered reported favorably by voice vote en bloc. Senators
Peters, Carper, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, Padilla, Ossoff,
Portman, Johnson, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley
were present for the vote.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported
Section 1. Short title
This section designates the name of the bill as the ``All-
American Flag Act.''
Section 2. Requirement for agencies to buy domestically made United
States flags
Subsection (a)(1) adds a new section to the end of Chapter
63 of title 41 of the United States Code. This new section--
section 6310--requires that funds appropriated or otherwise
available to an agency may not be used for the procurement of
any United States flag unless the flag has been wholly
manufactured in the United States from materials grown,
procured, or manufactured in the United States.
Section 6310 provides for certain exceptions to this
requirement, including for the procurement of United States
flags by vessels in foreign waters, for resale purposes in
military commissaries and exchanges, and for amounts less than
the simplified acquisition threshold. There is also an
exception for availability reasons, if the head of the agency
concerned determines that satisfactory quality and sufficient
quantity of a flag cannot be procured as needed at market
prices.
Section 6310 also provides for a Presidential waiver if the
President determines one necessary to comply with any trade
agreement to which the United States is a party. Finally,
section 6310 defines the terms ``agency'' and ``simplified
acquisition threshold'' for the purposes of this bill.
Subsection (a)(2) amends the table of sections at the
beginning of Chapter 63 to include section 6310.
Subsection (b) provides that the requirements of this bill
shall become applicable beginning 180 days after the bill's
enactment.
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, November 9, 2022.
Hon. Gary C. Peters,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed table summarizing estimated budgetary
effects and mandates information for some of the legislation
that has been ordered reported by the Senate Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs during the 117th
Congress.
If you wish further details, we will be pleased to provide
them. The CBO staff contact for each estimate is listed on the
enclosed table.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director.
Enclosure.
SUMMARY ESTIMATES OF LEGISLATION ORDERED REPORTED
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the
Congressional Budget Office, to the extent practicable, to
prepare estimates of the budgetary effects of legislation
ordered reported by Congressional authorizing committees. In
order to provide the Congress with as much information as
possible, the attached table summarizes information about the
estimated direct spending and revenue effects of some of the
legislation that has been ordered reported by the Senate
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs during
the 117th Congress. The legislation listed in this table
generally would have small effects, if any, on direct spending
or revenues, CBO estimates. Where possible, the table also
provides information about the legislation's estimated effects
on spending subject to appropriation and on intergovernmental
and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act.
ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS AND MANDATES INFORMATION
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Increases On-
Spending Subject Pay-As-You-Go Budget
Bill Title Status Last Action Budget Function Direct Spending, Revenues, 2023- to Appropriation, Procedures Deficits Mandates Contact
Number 2023-2032 2032 2023-2027 Apply? Beginning in
2033?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. 4399 All-American Ordered 09/28/22 800 Between zero and 0 Between zero and Yes No No Matthew
Flag Act reported $500,000 $500,000 Pickford
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. 4399 would require federal agencies, with certain exceptions, to purchase United States flags that are sourced and produced domestically. CBO estimates that enacting S. 4399 would have an
insignificant effect on direct spending and no effect on revenues over the 2023-2032 period. CBO estimates that implementing the bill would increase discretionary costs by an insignificant
amount over the 2023-2027 period; any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows: (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
TITLE 41--PUBLIC CONTRACTS
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 63--GENERAL CONTRACT PROVISIONS
* * * * * * *
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sec.
6301. Authorization requirement
6310. Requirement for agencies to buy domestically made United
States flags
* * * * * * *
SEC. 6309. HONORABLE DISCHARGE CERTIFICATE IN LIEU OF BIRTH CERTIFICATE
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
SEC. 6310. REQUIREMENT FOR AGENCIES TO BUY DOMESTICALLY MADE UNITED
STATES FLAGS
(a) Requirement.--Except as provided in subsections (b)
through (d), funds appropriated or otherwise available to an
agency may not be used for the procurement of any flag of the
United States, unless such flag has been 100 percent
manufactured in the United States from articles, materials, or
supplies that have been grown or 100 percent produced or
manufactured in the United States.
(b) Availability Exception.--Subsection (a) does not apply
to the extent that the head of the agency concerned determines
that satisfactory quality and sufficient quantity of a flag
described in such subsection cannot be procured as and when
needed at United States market prices.
(c) Exception for Certain Procurements.--Subsection (a)
does not apply to the following:
(1) Procurements by vessels in foreign waters.
(2) Procurements for resale purposes in any military
commissary, military exchange, or non-appropriated fund
instrumentality operated by an agency.
(3) Procurements for amounts less than the simplified
acquisition threshold.
(d) Presidential Waiver.--
(1) In general.--The President may waive the
requirement in subsection (a) if the President
determines a waiver is necessary to comply with any
trade agreement to which the United States is a party.
(2) Notice of waiver.--Not later than 30 days after
granting a waiver under paragraph (1), the President
shall publish a notice of the waiver in the Federal
Register.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Agency.--The term `agency' has the meaning given
the term `executive agency' in section 102 of title 40.
(2) Simplified acquisition threshold.--The term
`simplified acquisition threshold' has the meaning
given that term in section 134.
* * * * * * *
[all]