[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1585 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  1st Session

                               H. R. 1585

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

  To allow postal patrons to contribute to funding for breast cancer 
  research through the voluntary purchase of certain specially issued 
         United States postage stamps, and for other purposes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1585

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
  To allow postal patrons to contribute to funding for breast cancer 
  research through the voluntary purchase of certain specially issued 
         United States postage stamps, 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 ``Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act''.

SEC. 2. SPECIAL POSTAGE STAMPS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 4 of title 39, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 414. Special postage stamps
    ``(a) In order to afford the public a convenient way to contribute 
to funding for breast cancer research, the Postal Service shall 
establish a special rate of postage for first-class mail under this 
section.
    ``(b) The rate of postage established under this section--
            ``(1) shall be equal to the regular first-class rate of 
        postage, plus a differential of not to exceed 25 percent;
            ``(2) shall be set by the Governors in accordance with such 
        procedures as the Governors shall by regulation prescribe (in 
        lieu of the procedures under chapter 36); and
            ``(3) shall be offered as an alternative to the regular 
        first-class rate of postage.
The use of the special rate of postage established under this section 
shall be voluntary on the part of postal patrons.
    ``(c)(1) Of the amounts becoming available for breast cancer 
research pursuant to this section, the Postal Service shall pay--
            ``(A) 70 percent to the National Institutes of Health, and
            ``(B) the remainder to the Department of Defense.
Payments under this paragraph to an agency shall be made under such 
arrangements as the Postal Service shall by mutual agreement with such 
agency establish in order to carry out the purposes of this section, 
except that, under those arrangements, payments to such agency shall be 
made at least twice a year.
    ``(2) For purposes of this section, the term `amounts becoming 
available for breast cancer research pursuant to this section' means--
            ``(A) the total amounts received by the Postal Service that 
        it would not have received but for the enactment of this 
        section, reduced by
            ``(B) an amount sufficient to cover reasonable costs 
        incurred by the Postal Service in carrying out this section, 
        including those attributable to the printing, sale, and 
        distribution of stamps under this section,
as determined by the Postal Service under regulations that it shall 
prescribe.
    ``(d) It is the sense of the Congress that nothing in this section 
should--
            ``(1) directly or indirectly cause a net decrease in total 
        funds received by the National Institutes of Health, the 
        Department of Defense, or any other agency of the Government 
        (or any component or program thereof) below the level that 
        would otherwise have been received but for the enactment of 
        this section; or
            ``(2) affect regular first-class rates of postage or any 
        other regular rates of postage.
    ``(e) Special postage stamps under this section shall be made 
available to the public beginning on such date as the Postal Service 
shall by regulation prescribe, but in no event later than 12 months 
after the date of the enactment of this section.
    ``(f) The Postmaster General shall include in each report rendered 
under section 2402 with respect to any period during any portion of 
which this section is in effect information concerning the operation of 
this section, except that, at a minimum, each shall include--
            ``(1) the total amount described in subsection (c)(2)(A) 
        which was received by the Postal Service during the period 
        covered by such report; and
            ``(2) of the amount under paragraph (1), how much (in the 
        aggregate and by category) was required for the purposes 
        described in subsection (c)(2)(B).
    ``(g) This section shall cease to be effective at the end of the 2-
year period beginning on the date on which special postage stamps under 
this section are first made available to the public.''.
    (b) Report by the Comptroller General of the United States.--No 
later than 3 months (but no earlier than 6 months) before the end of 
the 2-year period referred to in section 414(g) of title 39, United 
States Code (as amended by subsection (a)), the Comptroller General of 
the United States shall submit to the Congress a report on the 
operation of such section. Such report shall include--
            (1) an evaluation of the effectiveness and the 
        appropriateness of the authority provided by such section as a 
        means of fund-raising; and
            (2) a description of the monetary and other resources 
        required of the Postal Service in carrying out such section.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 4 of 
title 39, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``414. Special postage stamps.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 22, 1997.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.