Make American Flags in America Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4137 To require certain flags of the United States to be made in the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 14, 2023 Ms. STEFANIK (for herself, Mr. LANDSMAN, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. NEHLS, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. D’ESPOSITO, Mr. CLOUD, Ms. LETLOW, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Mrs. LUNA, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. TURNER, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. TIMMONS, Mr. FRY, Mrs. MILLER of West Virginia, Mr. SANTOS, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. WIL- LIAMS of Texas, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. TONKO, and Mr. WEBER of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak- er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju- risdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require certain flags of the United States to be made in the United States, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Make American Flags 4 in America Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4137.IH H4137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4137 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN FLAGS OF UNITED 1 STATES TO BE MADE IN UNITED STATES. 2 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN FLAGS OF UNITED 3 STATES TO BE MADE IN UNITED STATES.—Chapter 1 4 of title 4, United States Code, is amended by adding at 5 the end the following: 6 ‘‘§ 11. Display on Federal property; procurement by 7 Federal agencies 8 ‘‘(a) DISPLAY ON FEDERAL PROPERTY.—A Federal 9 agency may not display a flag of the United States on 10 Federal property unless such flag has been made in the 11 United States. 12 ‘‘(b) PROCUREMENT BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 13 Funds appropriated or otherwise made available to a Fed- 14 eral agency may not be used for the procurement of a flag 15 of the United States unless such flag has been made in 16 the United States. 17 ‘‘(c) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.—This section 18 shall be applied in a manner consistent with the obliga- 19 tions of the United States under international agreements. 20 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 21 tion may be construed to apply to the display or procure- 22 ment of a flag of the United States by a private actor. 23 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 24 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘Federal 25 agency’ means— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4137.IH H4137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4137 IH ‘‘(A) an Executive agency; 1 ‘‘(B) a military department; 2 ‘‘(C) an office, agency, or other establish- 3 ment in the legislative branch; 4 ‘‘(D) an office, agency, or other establish- 5 ment in the judicial branch; 6 ‘‘(E) the Government of the District of Co- 7 lumbia; and 8 ‘‘(F) Government controlled corporations. 9 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL PROPERTY.—The term ‘Federal 10 property’ means real property owned, leased, or oc- 11 cupied by a Federal agency or an instrumentality 12 wholly owned by the United States. 13 ‘‘(3) MADE IN THE UNITED STATES.—The term 14 ‘made in the United States’ means 100 percent 15 manufactured in the United States from articles, 16 materials, or supplies that have been 100 percent 17 produced or manufactured in the United States. 18 ‘‘(4) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘United 19 States’, when used in a geographic sense, includes 20 each of the several States, the District of Columbia, 21 Tribal lands, and the territories or possessions of the 22 United States.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4137.IH H4137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4137 IH (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 1 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 2 at the end the following: 3 ‘‘11. Display on Federal property; procurement by Federal agencies.’’. (c) APPLICABILITY.—Section 11 of title 4, United 4 States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply— 5 (1) with respect to the display of a flag of the 6 United States by a Federal agency, on and after the 7 date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment 8 of this Act; and 9 (2) with respect to the procurement of a flag of 10 the United States by a Federal agency, on and after 11 the date that is 90 days after the date of the enact- 12 ment of this Act. 13 SEC. 3. STUDY ON COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN LABELING FOR 14 FLAGS OF THE UNITED STATES. 15 (a) STUDY.—The Chair of the Federal Trade Com- 16 mission shall conduct a study that— 17 (1) assesses and describes the enforcement 18 scheme for country-of-origin labeling for flags of the 19 United States; 20 (2) determines how many fines or penalties, if 21 any, have been imposed for violations of such en- 22 forcement scheme; and 23 (3) identifies the percentage of violations of 24 such enforcement scheme that are subsequent viola- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4137.IH H4137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4137 IH tions committed by an entity that has previously 1 been found to have violated such scheme. 2 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 3 of the enactment of this Act, the Chair of the Federal 4 Trade Commission shall submit to the Committee on En- 5 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and 6 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 7 of the Senate a report containing— 8 (1) the results of the study conducted under 9 subsection (a); and 10 (2) any recommendations to improve— 11 (A) the enforcement scheme for country-of- 12 origin labeling for flags of the United States; 13 and 14 (B) the deterrent effect of such scheme. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4137.IH H4137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS