[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4526 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4526

  To provide for the issuance of a semipostal for the American Battle 
                         Monuments Commission.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 23, 2000

Mr. Traficant introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the issuance of a semipostal for the American Battle 
                         Monuments Commission.

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

SECTION 1. SEMIPOSTAL FOR AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 4 of title 39, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 414 the following:
``Sec. 414a. Special postage stamps for the American Battle Monuments 
              Commission
    ``(a) In order to afford the public a convenient way to contribute 
to funding for the American Battle Monuments Commission, 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 American Battle 
Monuments Commission pursuant to this section shall be paid to the 
Commission in accordance with such arrangements as the Postal Service 
shall by mutual agreement with the Commission establish, except that, 
under those arrangements, payments shall be made at least twice a year.
    ``(2) For purposes of this section, the term `amounts becoming 
available for the American Battle Monuments Commission 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 any 
        Federal funding for the American Battle Monuments Commission; 
        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 414a(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) 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 American Battle Monuments 
                            Commission.''.
    (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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