[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3393 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3393

 To amend the provisions of title 39, United States Code, relating to 
the franking privilege for Members of Congress, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 27, 1993

   Mr. Strickland introduced the following bill; which was referred 
  jointly to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service and House 
                             Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the provisions of title 39, United States Code, relating to 
the franking privilege for Members of Congress, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Deficit Reduction Franking Act''.

SEC. 2. MASS MAILINGS.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (6) of section 3210(a) of title 39, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(6)(A) For the purpose of this section, the term `mass mailing' 
means, with respect to a session of Congress, any mailing of 
newsletters or other pieces of mail with substantially identical 
content (whether such mail is deposited singly or in bulk, or at the 
same time or different times), totaling more than 500 pieces in that 
session.
    ``(B) A Member of, or Member-elect to, Congress may not mail any 
mass mailing as franked mail, unless it--
            ``(i) is in direct response to a communication from a 
        person to whom the matter is mailed;
            ``(ii) is a follow-up to a mailing described in clause (i);
            ``(iii) is sent to other Members of Congress, or to 
        Federal, State, or local government officials;
            ``(iv) is a news release to the communications media; or
            ``(v) relates solely to a notice of appearance or a 
        scheduled itinerary of the Member or Member-elect, and is sent 
        solely to residents of towns or villages, in the congressional 
        district from which elected, with populations under 1,000 and 
        without a daily newspaper published within 50 miles, subject to 
        subparagraph (C).
    ``(C) Not more than 3 mass mailings of the type described in 
subparagraph (B)(v) may be mailed by a Member (including as a Member-
elect) during any Congress.
    ``(D) The Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate and the House 
Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards shall prescribe rules and 
regulations for their respective Houses and take such other action as 
the Committee or Commission (as the case may be) considers necessary 
and proper for Members and Members-elect to comply with this paragraph 
and applicable rules and regulations.
    ``(E) Any mass mailing which is mailed by the chairman of an 
organization referred to in the last sentence of section 3215 which 
relates to the normal and regular business of the organization may be 
mailed without regard to the provisions of this paragraph.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 320 of the Legislative Branch 
Appropriations Act, 1991 (2 U.S.C. 59g) is amended by striking 
``3210(a)(6)(E)'' and inserting ``3210(a)(6)(A)''.

SEC. 3. VOTER REGISTRATION INFORMATION.

    Subparagraph (H) of section 3210(a)(3) of title 39, United States 
Code, is repealed.

SEC. 4. RETURN OF EXCESS AMOUNTS FROM OFFICIAL ALLOWANCES OF MEMBERS OF 
              THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE TREASURY FOR DEFICIT 
              REDUCTION.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other law, or any rule or 
other authority, any amount remaining in an official allowance of a 
Member of the House of Representatives at the end of the session of 
Congress or other period for which the allowance is made available 
shall be returned to the Treasury, to be used for deficit reduction.
    (b) Definitions.--As used in this section--
            (1) the term ``Member of the House of Representatives'' 
        means a Representative in, or a Delegate or Resident 
        Commissioner to, the Congress; and
            (2) the term ``official allowance'' means, with respect to 
        a Member of the House of Representatives, or the Official Mail 
        Allowance.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect as 
of the beginning of the first Congress beginning after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

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