By Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)

Contributing Columnist

This month, we celebrated Flag Day. In a few weeks, Ohioans and Americans across the country will celebrate Independence Day, often with parades and visits to monuments and memorials, where they’ll proudly wave American flags.

But right now, the flags flying at military installations and other government offices often don’t reflect the values that our veterans sacrificed so much for. Today, the flags the federal government purchases are only required to be made from just 50 percent American-made materials. That means that half of the materials that our women and men in uniform fight under can be made in China.

That’s why I joined Senator Susan Collins, and our colleagues in the House, Tim Ryan and Shontel Brown, to once again introduce our bipartisan All-American Flag Act. This legislation would require the federal government to buy flags that are produced entirely with American-made materials and are manufactured in the U.S.

These efforts build on the work we did with Senator Portman when we passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill last year, which included the strongest ever Buy America rules. Those rules will require all infrastructure projects be done using American iron and steel, produced by American workers.

Whether you’re talking about flags or construction materials – American tax dollars should go toward American-made products that support American jobs, period. We need to produce the symbol of our country in a way that supports American workers and American manufacturers.

We can ensure that American-made flags will be waved and flown in all corners of the country. From the flags in the hands of new Americans at citizenship and naturalization ceremonies, to the flag at your local post office, to the flag flying over the U.S. Capitol Building, we should commit to making them in America.

Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is a U.S. Senator for Ohio. He can be reached at 1-800-896-6446. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints nor the independent activities of the author.