[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3773 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3773

  To prevent Members of the House of Representatives from making mass 
       mailings during an election year, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 10, 1996

     Mr. Castle (for himself, Mr. Bachus, Mr. Blute, Mr. Frank of 
Massachusetts, Mr. Goss, Ms. Greene of Utah, Mr. Jacobs, Mr. LoBiondo, 
  Mr. McHale, Mr. Parker, Mr. Poshard, and Mr. Shays) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Oversight, 
 and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prevent Members of the House of Representatives from making mass 
       mailings during an election year, 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. RESTRICTION ON MASS MAILINGS.

    (a) In General.--Section 3210(a) of title 39, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(8)(A) Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph (6), a Member 
of, or Member-elect to, the House of Representatives may not mail any 
mass mailing as franked mailing if it would be postmarked during any 
session that begins in an even-numbered calendar year before the 
Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November of such year.
    ``(B) Nothing in subparagraph (A) shall preclude the mailing of--
            ``(i) any mail matter which is part of a mass mailing 
        described in paragraph (6)(B);
            ``(ii) a town meeting notice, if it is made more than 90 
        days before the date of any primary election or general 
        election (whether regular, special, or runoff) for any Federal, 
        State, or local office in which such Member is a candidate for 
        election; or
            ``(iii) any mail matter which relates to an emergency or 
        disaster declared by the President, if--
                    ``(I) the mailing is sent within 60 days after the 
                emergency or disaster is declared;
                    ``(II) the recipients of the mailing are located in 
                a congressional district any portion of which is within 
                (or adjacent to) an area included in the President's 
                declaration; and
                    ``(III) the mailing relates solely to the emergency 
                or disaster.
    ``(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term `town meeting 
notice' means any mailing which--
                    ``(i) relates solely to a notice of the time and 
                place at which a Member of the House of Representatives 
                or 1 or more members of the Member's staff will be 
                available to meet constituents regarding legislative 
                issues or problems with Federal programs;
                    ``(ii) appears on a mailing 5\1/2\" x 8" or 
                smaller;
                    ``(iii) includes not more than 3 references to the 
                Member (excluding any reference appearing as the frank, 
                consisting of the signature and name at the end of the 
                mailing, or otherwise specified in regulations of the 
                House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards); 
                and
                    ``(iv) does not include any picture, sketch, or 
                other likeness of the Member.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to even-numbered calendar years beginning after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>