WASHINGTON, D.C. —In advance of Flag Day, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called on the U.S. House of Representatives to pass his legislation that would ensure that flags purchased by the Federal government are entirely made in America. The All-American Flag Act unanimously passed the U.S. Senate in July 2011, but the House of Representatives has failed to schedule a vote for the companion bill, H.R. 1344, introduced by U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA). The manufacturing and distribution facility for the nation’s oldest and largest producer of American flags is located in Coshocton. Annin and Company, founded in 1847, currently employs more than 500 workers nationwide.

“With so many Ohio companies proudly producing the American flag, it’s outrageous to think that we’d import materials for our most treasured of patriotic symbols,” Brown said. “The House should act immediately to pass this commonsense law. With our widening trade deficit, we should be doing everything we can to support American manufacturing and job creation.”

The Federal government is currently required to purchase flags made from 50 percent American-made materials; Brown’s bill would require the government to buy flags that are entirely produced with American-made materials.

Brown is the author of the biggest bipartisan jobs bill to pass the Senate last year, which could create more than 2 million jobs in our country by leveling the playing field for American manufacturers competing against unfairly subsidized imports. Brown’s Currency Exchange and Oversight Reform Act would stop China from propping up its currency – which gives Chinese products an advantage by making them artificially cheaper than American-made ones. House leadership has yet to schedule a vote to create Ohio jobs now by making the Chinese pay a price when they cheat. According to a report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and the Alliance for American Manufacturing, the growing trade deficit with China – caused in large part by China’s illegal currency manipulation – has cost the United States more than 2.8 million jobs since 2001, including more than 1.9 million manufacturing jobs.