It's Flag Day. But did you know that American Flag you're flying probably wasn't made in the USA?
Old Glory's been outsourced. Representative Louis Molepske (D-Stevens Point) says according to the U.S. Census Bureau, nine million American Flags were imported in 2006. Molepske says that's only two per cent of the total value of American Flags produced worldwide are made in this country.
Molepske is introducing a bill that will help bring Old Glory back home. It requires that any flag flown on a public building in Wisconsin, subsidized with taxpayers' money, must be made in America.
Molepske says there are plenty of US Companies ready to supply America with American Flags including companies here in Wisconsin.
Molepske says his bill is only fitting since the movement to honor the Stars and Stripes started right here in Wisconsin. BJ Cigrand, a school teacher, encouraged his students in Fredonia to start a movement honoring the flag.
The Continental Congress commissioned the Stars and Stripes June 14, 1777. Cigrand started his effort to honor the flag in 1855 near Fredonia, WI. A day to celebrate was proclaimed in 1916 and President Harry Truman declared it a holiday in 1949.
Molepske expects lots of support for his bill at the state capital.
AUDIO: Jim Dick reports ( 1:20 MP3 )
