[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4492 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4492

To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide for the issuance of a 
semipostal in order to afford the public a convenient way to contribute 
     to funding for the establishment of the World War II Memorial.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 18, 2000

 Ms. Lofgren (for herself, Mr. Hyde, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Stump, Mr. Evans, 
Mr. Houghton, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Ballenger, Mr. Moakley, Mr. Regula, Mr. 
   Hall of Texas, Mr. Skeen, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Sisisky, Mr. Filner, Mr. 
    Gilman, and Mr. Shays) introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide for the issuance of a 
semipostal in order to afford the public a convenient way to contribute 
     to funding for the establishment of the World War II Memorial.

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

SECTION 1. SEMIPOSTAL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WORLD WAR II 
              MEMORIAL.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 4 of title 39, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 414 the following:
``Sec. 414a. Special postage stamp for the establishment of the World 
              War II Memorial
    ``(a) In order to afford the public a convenient way to contribute 
to funding for the establishment of the World War II Memorial, 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) Amounts becoming available for the establishment of the 
World War II Memorial pursuant to this section shall be paid to the 
American Battle Monuments Commission. Payments under this section shall 
be made under such arrangements as the Postal Service shall by mutual 
agreement with the American Battle Monuments Commission establish in 
order to carry out the purposes of this section, except that, under 
those arrangements, payments to such Commission shall be made at least 
twice a year.
    ``(2) For purposes of this section, the term `amounts becoming 
available for the establishment of the World War II Memorial 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 
        Federal funding received by the American Battle Monuments 
        Commission 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 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of this section or, if earlier, November 11, 
2000 (Veterans Day).
    ``(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 upon the 
determination of the Postmaster General (in consultation with the 
American Battle Monuments Commission) that the Commission has or will 
have the funds necessary to pay all expenses of the establishment of 
the World War II Memorial. Any excess funds shall be deposited in the 
fund within the Treasury of the United States created by section 2113 
of title 36 and may be used for any of the purposes allowable under 
such section.
    ``(h) As used in this section, the term `World War II Memorial' 
refers to the memorial the construction of which is authorized by 
Public Law 103-32.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--(1) The analysis for chapter 4 of title 
39, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to 
section 414 and inserting the following:

``414. Special postage stamps to benefit breast cancer research.
``414a. Special postage stamps for the establishment of the World War 
                            II Memorial.''.
    (2) The heading for section 414 of title 39, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 414. Special postage stamps to benefit breast cancer research''.
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