Bill Would Save Old Glory From Foreign Hands

This story was written by Kelsey Beltramea, The Daily Iowan

Rep. Ray Zirkelbach, D-Monticello, introduced a bill last week, now in subcommittee, that would make sure of it.

Under the bill, businesses could be fined as much as $625 for selling U.S. or Iowa flags made in other countries. Business owners or operators could also face up to 30 days in jail for selling a foreign-made flag.

Those flags commemorating U.S. soldiers missing in action or those characterized as prisoners of war would also be regulated under the proposal.

Zirkelbach, an Iraq war veteran who also chairs the Veterans Affairs Committee, declined to comment on the bill until after it reaches the House floor, but locally, veterans lauded his efforts.

At the American Legion Post 17 in Iowa City, Commander Mike Hull said he understood where Zirkelbach's position.

"You know, we raise our right hand and fight for our country, and I want an American flag draped over me when I go," the veteran said.

Hull, who served in Iraq, Kuwait, and Desert Storm, said he valued America's free-enterprise, free-market society, and he found patriotism in the idea that America's symbol of freedom would only be the product of American hands.

In 2006, Americans imported $5.3 million worth of foreign-made flags, which was a slight drop from $5.5 million in 2005, according to the Flag Manufacturers Association of America.

The nonprofit trade association was established five years ago to campaign for the proper use of flags. It offers a "Made in the U.S.A." certification to ensure consumers that their products consist of homegrown materials manufactured in U.S. facilities with U.S. labor.

Kirk VanGundy, the owner and manager of Martin's Flag Co. in Fort Dodge, said his firm has never dealt with foreign-made flags.

"Why would you want to buy a U.S. flag made in China or Singapore?" he said.

His wholesale flag-distribution business was founded in 1895 primarily to sell fireworks, but it grew to be a nationwide flag dealer, providing flags to such facilities as the Pentacrest Museums.

Shalla Wilson, the assistant director of the museums, said the flags atop the Old Capitol have come from VanGundy's business for more than 15 years.

"Like a lot of the products we use here at the museum, whether it be items for sale in the gift shop or our flags, we try to stay with products that are locally made, either in Iowa or the Midwest," she said.

Nationwide, there has been a recent move away from foreign-made flags.

Minnesota enacted a law under a year ago that fines foreign-flag sellers up to $1,000 and three months in jail.

Tennessee passed a similar law in 2005 that requires all official state and U.S. flags purchased only under a state contract to be manufactured in the United States. Those who violate the law can be punished by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.

Comparable legislation is pending in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

UI economics Professor Raymond Riezman said these politically motivated measures will likely have little effect on the economy because flag sales account for so little in comparison with the U.S. economy as a whole.

E-mail DI reporter Kelsey Beltramea at:kelsey-beltramea@uiowa.edu
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