The flags are then boxed to be given to members of Congress who make them available to people. It flaps in the breeze for a few seconds and then Warley runs it back down, folds it and boxes it. Since the program started in 1937, more than 2.4 million flags have been flown over the Capitol and then sold or given away as souvenirs. The banner year was 1991 when 154,224 flags were flown. Maybe Americans were feeling patriotic because of the Persian Gulf War.
Nobody knows for sure.
We worked round the clock to make sure all those flags were flown. Especially not on a day last month when flags around the nation were flying at half-staff to mark the death of former Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona. No disrespect to Goldwater, but his death made Warley's job more difficult. He had to run each flag all the way to the top, back down halfway in memory of Goldwater, back up to the top and then back down. That's flag-raising protocol.