Lawmaker pushes for flags made in the U.S.A.

Sunday, July 08, 2007 By Trish G. Graber

TRENTON If the state’s paying for a flag with taxpayer dollars, it better say “Made in the U.S.A.”

That’s the message Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew began pushing after discovering a flag in a Statehouse office that was crafted in China.

“If our own government can’t fly a flag that was produced in our country, then something is wrong,” said Van Drew, D-1 of Millville.

Van Drew checked the flag out of sheer curiosity after the issue of foreign-made flags was brought to his attention by a veteran.

And, according to the United States Census Bureau, it’s not uncommon.

In 2006, the bureau reported, $5.3 million worth of American flags were imported to the United States, $5 million of them from China.

Van Drew’s bill, which has more than 30 co-sponsors, would make it illegal for the state to buy a foreign-made New Jersey or American flag.

Tennessee has enacted a similar law. Minnesota’s ban on foreign-made American flags will take effect at the end of the year.

For Van Drew and the co-sponsors including Assemblymen Paul Moriarty, David Mayer, Douglas Fisher, John Burzichelli and Nelson Albano it just makes sense.

And for some residents, like Vietnam veteran Gene Timmons, of Gloucester County, the issue hits close to home.

Two years ago at the funeral of his aunt, a World War II nurse, a Cape May undertaker supplied the 5-by-9-1/2 foot casket flag.

Much to his surprise, when Timmons received the folded flag, the tag read “Made in Taiwan.”

“It was a disgrace,” he said.

Timmons, who sells flags distributed by East Coast Flag and Banner, refuses to handle those made in foreign countries.

“Men are dying for this flag and it is made in another country,” Timmons said. “I can’t see it.”

Van Drew’s bill would only prohibit the purchase of foreign-made flags by the state. The measure passed the Assembly unanimously in June and is pending in the Senate.

Governors have control over federal flags

WASHINGTON, July 3 A new U.S. law requires that all federal buildings in a state fly U.S. flags at half-staff at the request of that state’s governor.

U.S. President George W. Bush last week signed the measure into law, which amends the Flag Code, The New York Times reported Monday.

The piece of legislation was the result of complaints from the families of fallen soldiers, who were upset to see flags on federal buildings flying high after their respective governors had ordered U.S. flags in the state be flown at half-staff to honor the dead.

“This legislation will ensure consistency in how we honor fallen heroes,” said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who sponsored the legislation. “While in many cases the local federal employees want to observe the governors’ orders, they may not have received the appropriate directive from their regional offices.”

But the issue of whether to lower the flag every time a local soldier is killed has sparked controversy, with some saying they feel it is an appropriate way to honor the dead and others saying the gesture loses its meaning if it is done too frequently.

States Move to Require U.S. Flags are Made in U.S.A.

At American Legion Post 65, visitors can drop off worn U.S. flags knowing they’ll be disposed of with the proper respect. On their way out, they can buy a new 3-by-5 flag for $20 or a 4-by-6-footer for $30.Made in America, of course.

“That’s our flag. It belongs here in the United States; it should be made in the United States,” Air Force veteran Bob Racette said while fingering a flag in a corner of the legion hall bar.

By year’s end, a new law will require every Old Glory sold in Minnesota stores to be American made. It’s the latest and strongest attempt by states to stem imports of foreign-made U.S. flags.

In Arizona, schools and public colleges were required starting July 1 to outfit every classroom from junior high up with a made-in-the-USA flag. Tennessee requires all U.S. flags bought via state contract to be made here, and similar bills are moving forward in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The Fourth of July is considered peak season for flag sales with millions of them lining parade routes and flying above back yard barbecues.

Most of the major domestic flag makers are privately held companies that don’t release their sales figures, so it’s difficult to gauge the inroads being made by foreign manufacturers.

The U.S. Census bureau estimates that $5.3 million worth of U.S. flags were imported from other countries in 2006, mostly from China. That figure has been steady over the past few years. The big exception was in 2001 when $51.7 million in U.S. flags were brought into the country, most on the heels of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Sandy Van Leiu, chairman of the Flag Manufacturers Association of America, said the imports are cause for concern even though U.S. companies still dominate the flag market.

“That door is going to keep opening,” said Van Leiu, a sixth-generation executive at the family-owned Annin & Co., a 160-year-old business that supplies retailers like Wal-Mart. “It starts small, then it gets big. You’re just opening Pandora’s box.”

To help consumers identify the origin of their flags, the association created a certification program two years ago that bestows a seal-of-approval logo to flags made with domestic fibers and labor.

Whether Minnesota’s law violates international trade agreements — and whether anything would be done about it — is an open question.

Under World Trade Organization standards, the U.S. government can’t treat foreign products less favorably than those produced within its boundaries, said Peter Morici, a business professor at the University of Maryland and the former chief economist for the U.S. International Trade Commission. How the rules apply to states is debatable, he said.

Morici said a foreign business harmed by the law would have to get its government to take action against the U.S. government. Robert Litan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, said while the likelihood of Minnesota’s law sparking a dispute is slim the symbolic message is hard to miss.

“It’s symptomatic of an anti-foreign bias moving through the country right now. It would not surprise me if other states copied it,” Litan said. “It’s hard to oppose politically.”

When the bill was debated this spring, some legislators argued it sent the wrong message to close Minnesota’s borders to foreign-produced flags.

“That flag should be made throughout the world because it is our message to the world that there is hope for freedom and justice,” Republican Rep. Dan Severson said at the time.

The law’s sponsor, Democratic Rep. Tom Rukavina, said the flag deserves extra protection. To celebrate his legislative victory, he plans to hand out 1,000 miniature flags at Fourth of July parades in his district.

“The biggest honor that you can give the flag is that it be made by American workers in the United States of America,” he said. “Nothing is more embarrassing to me than a plastic flag made in China. This replica of freedom we so respect should be made in this country.”

The new law doesn’t spell out a penalty for violators. In Minnesota, the default punishment for prohibited acts is a misdemeanor offense, carrying up to a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail.

Law requires agencies to fly flags as ordered

Law requires agencies to fly flags as ordered

 

July 3, 2007

BY TODD SPANGLER

FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF

WASHINGTON — When 22-year-old Army Spec. Joseph Micks of Rapid River, Mich., was killed in Iraq last July, Gov. Jennifer Granholm ordered flags across the state flown at half-staff. But some federal agencies ignored her.

Now, they can’t.

President George W. Bush signed legislation late last week requiring federal agencies to comply with any governor’s order to lower flags to half-staff in honor of military men and women who fall in the line of duty.

Micks’ Upper Peninsula congressman, Bart Stupak, sponsored the legislation, saying it ensures local offices won’t be waiting for a directive from their regional offices to lower their flags.

“The least our government can do is ensure we honor the family in a manner that is befitting of their profound loss,” said Stupak, a Menominee Democrat, who named the new law for Micks.

Micks was killed, according to a release last summer by Granholm’s office, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations in Ramadi.

Stupak’s legislation puts to rest a question that has been raised several times since Granholm issued a proclamation in 2003 requiring flags to be lowered in honor of fallen military personnel.

Even Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson balked at first, wondering if by lowering the flags, officials could undermine support for what he called the war on terrorism. He later agreed to lower the flags on government buildings after a veteran met with him and said it was an appropriate way to honor the men and women who fall in war.

The Free Press has identified 163 service men and women with Michigan ties who have died in Iraq.