[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2543 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2543

To amend title 39, United States Code, to direct the Postal Service to 
 adhere to an equitable tender policy in selecting air carriers of non-
priority bypass mail to certain points in the State of Alaska, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 18, 2001

 Mr. Young of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 39, United States Code, to direct the Postal Service to 
 adhere to an equitable tender policy in selecting air carriers of non-
priority bypass mail to certain points in the State of Alaska, 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. SELECTION OF CARRIERS OF NON-PRIORITY BYPASS MAIL TO CERTAIN 
              POINTS IN 
              ALASKA.

    (a) Requirements for Selection.--Section 5402(g)(1) of title 39, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by inserting 
        after ``in the State of Alaska,'' the following: ``shall adhere 
        to an equitable tender policy among the carriers and''; and
            (2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(B) operate at least 1, 2, or 3 (as determined by the 
        Postal Service based on its needs) scheduled flights each week 
        to such point;''.
    (b) Determination of Rates.--Section 5402(g)(2) of such title is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (A);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B) 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(C) may offer equitable tender of non-priority bypass 
        mail at mainline service rates to a bush carrier providing 
        service within the State of Alaska from a hub point to a bush 
        point if the bush point is also being served by a mainline 
        carrier.''.
    (c) Selection of Carriers to Hub Points.--Section 5402(g) of such 
title is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(4)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Postal Service 
shall select only existing mainline carriers to provide non-priority 
bypass mail service to hub points in the State of Alaska.
    ``(B) The Postal Service may select a carrier other than an 
existing mainline carrier to provide non-priority bypass mail service 
to a hub point in the State of Alaska if--
            ``(i) the Postal Service determines (in accordance with 
        criteria established in advance by the Postal Service) that 
        service to the hub point is deficient and provides written 
        notice of the determination to existing mainline carriers to 
        the hub point; and
            ``(ii) after the 30-day period following issuance of notice 
        under clause (i), the Postal Service determines that 
        deficiencies in service to the hub point have not been 
        cured.''.
    (d) Definitions.--Section 5402(g) of such title is further amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(5) In this subsection--
            ``(A) the term `equitable tender' means the practice of the 
        Postal Service of equitably distributing mail on a fair and 
        reasonable basis between those air carriers that offer 
        equivalent services between 2 communities in terms of the 
        requirements of the Postal Service;
            ``(B) the term `existing mainline carrier' means a mainline 
        carrier that meets the requirements of paragraph (1) and was 
        actually providing mainline non-priority bypass mail service 
        within the State of Alaska as of January 1, 2001; and
            ``(C) the term `scheduled service' means service published 
        in the Official Airline Guide or the air cargo equivalent 
        thereof.''.
                                 <all>