[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4659 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4659

To allow postal patrons to contribute to funding for domestic violence 
  programs through the voluntary purchase of specially issued postage 
                                stamps.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 14, 2000

Mr. Hefley (for himself, Mrs. Morella, Mrs. Biggert, Mrs. Emerson, Ms. 
Lofgren, Mr. Towns, Mrs. Kelly, and Ms. Dunn) introduced the following 
     bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To allow postal patrons to contribute to funding for domestic violence 
  programs through the voluntary purchase of specially issued postage 
                                stamps.

    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 Domestic Violence Act of 
2000''.

SEC. 2. SPECIAL POSTAGE STAMPS RELATING TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

    (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 relating to domestic violence
    ``(a) In order to afford the public a convenient way to contribute 
to funding for domestic violence programs, 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 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.
    ``(c) The use of the rate of postage established under this section 
shall be voluntary on the part of postal patrons.
    ``(d)(1) Amounts becoming available for domestic violence programs 
under this section shall be paid by the Postal Service to the 
Department of Justice. Payments under this section shall be made under 
such arrangements as the Postal Service shall, by mutual agreement with 
the Department of Justice, establish in order to carry out the purposes 
of this section, except that under those arrangements, payments to the 
Department of Justice shall be made at least twice a year.
    ``(2) For purposes of this section, the term `amounts becoming 
available for domestic violence programs under this section' means--
            ``(A) the total amount of revenues 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 costs attributable to the printing, sale, and 
        distribution of stamps under this section,
as determined by the Postal Service under regulations that it shall 
prescribe.
    ``(e) It is the sense of Congress that nothing in this section 
should--
            ``(1) directly or indirectly cause a net decrease in total 
        funds received by the Department of Justice 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.
    ``(f) 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 not later than 12 months after the 
date of the enactment of this section.
    ``(g) 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 report shall include--
            ``(1) the total amount described in subsection (d)(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 (d)(2)(B).
    ``(h) 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.--Not 
later than 3 months (but no earlier than 6 months) before the end of 
the 2-year period referred to in section 414a(h) 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) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Table of sections.--The table of sections 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 relating to breast cancer.
``414a. Special postage stamps relating to domestic violence.''.
            (2) Section heading.--The heading for section 414 of title 
        39, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 414. Special postage stamps relating to breast cancer''.
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