Our government uses the stars-and-stripes flag for many different purposes — from flying above or outside government buildings, to military funerals, to hanging in almost public school classroom in America for the Pledge of Allegiance — but many of them are manufactured overseas. H.R. 916, the All-American Flag Act, would mandate that all American flags used by the federal government — not just by the military — be produced in this country.

Why the bill was introduced

Currently, American flags made outside the United States cost less, as do so many good and products. (A viral analysis calculated that it would cost about $15,000 to manufacture an iPad entirely in the U.S.) More than $3 million of American flags are imported annually just from China alone.

Congress passed a law in 2014 requiring the military to only use American-made flags, as a provision in that year’s omnibus appropriations. It was introduced by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA5), a Vietnam War veteran and Purple Heart recipient, who told CBS News, “I am proud to have worked to pass this law so that our men and women in uniform never have to fight under a U.S. flag made overseas, and so that our Defense Department never again spends American tax dollars on a U.S. flag made overseas.”

This bill pending in Congress would go a step further, requiring the federal government to only use American flags made and produced in the U.S.

What supporters and opponents each say

Supporters say it’s a step to ensure that the emblem of our nation is also created from within our nation as frequently as possible.

“I strongly believe that American flags purchased with taxpayer money should be made here at home by Americans,” said the legislation’s lead sponsor Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL17) in a press release. “I hear time and again from our veterans of their disappointment that too many American flags are actually made overseas, in countries like China. I’m pleased to continue pushing for American workers by introducing this bipartisan effort to ensure all taxpayer-purchased American flags are made here in America.”

Who opposes this bill? No sitting member of Congress has expressed outright opposition on the record, as far as GovTrack Insider could determine, perhaps indicating the bad optics of opposing such a bill. Some Republicans may have qualms about the federal government creating another mandate, especially one that could cost the government more money when many in the GOP are concerned about deficits and the debt. But if so, those members seem to be keeping silent about this bill rather than vocally standing against it.

Odds of passage

Both the Senate and House have expressed a desire to enact this legislation in recent years, but as luck would have it, neither chamber has acted on the bills passed by the other chamber.

Prior versions of the bill introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in the Senate passed that chamber in both of the past two Congresses, by a “unanimous consent” voice vote in 2014 and in 2011. Yet neither version received a vote in the House. Four previous versions had been introduced in the House by former Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA1), including one that passed the House by a unanimous consent voice vote in 2010, but never received a vote in the Senate.

The House version is gaining steam: The 2007–08 House bill had no cosponsors, the 2009–10 version had 10 cosponsors, all Democrats, the 2011–12 version had 11 cosponsors, all Democrats, and the 2013–14 version had 15 cosponsors: nine Democrats, six Republicans.

But the current version has a staggering 107 cosponsors, 85 Democrats and 22 Republicans. Put another way, the bill has more cosponsors from the opposite party of the lead sponsor than any previous version had cosponsors of the same party. Still, it has yet to receive a vote in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.