[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3251 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3251

   To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide, for a limited 
emergency period, that the payment of a bill, invoice, or statement of 
account due, if made by mail, shall be considered to have been made on 
   the date as of which the envelope which is used to transmit such 
                         payment is postmarked.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 7, 2001

    Ms. Millender-McDonald 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 a limited 
emergency period, that the payment of a bill, invoice, or statement of 
account due, if made by mail, shall be considered to have been made on 
   the date as of which the envelope which is used to transmit such 
                         payment is postmarked.

    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 ``Emergency Customer Protection Act of 
2001''.

SEC. 2. DATE OF POSTMARK TO BE TREATED AS DATE OF PAYMENT OF A BILL, 
              INVOICE, OR STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT DURING LIMITED EMERGENCY 
              PERIOD.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 26 of title 39, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 2606. Date of postmark to be treated as date of payment of a 
              bill, invoice, or statement of account due
    ``(a) If, during the 90-day period beginning on the date of the 
enactment of the Emergency Customer Protection Act of 2001, any payment 
required to be made on or before a prescribed date is, after such date, 
delivered by the Postal Service to the payee, such payment shall be 
deemed received by the payee on the date of the United States postmark 
stamped on the envelope or other cover in which such payment is mailed.
    ``(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to any payment--
            ``(1) other than a payment on a bill, invoice, or statement 
        of account due;
            ``(2) which is required, by law, regulation, or contract, 
        to be delivered by any method other than by mail; or
            ``(3) which is subject to any other provision of Federal 
        law specifying how a postmark date shall be used in determining 
        the date on which such payment shall be deemed to have been 
        delivered or made.
    ``(c) Subsection (a) shall apply only if--
            ``(1) the postmark date falls on or before the prescribed 
        date for making the payment; and
            ``(2) the payment was, on or before such date, deposited in 
        the mail in the United States in an envelope or under other 
        appropriate cover, postage prepaid, properly addressed to the 
        payee.
    ``(d) Subsection (a) shall not apply in the case of a postmark not 
made by the Postal Service.
    ``(e) For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `payee', as used with respect to a payment, 
        includes any person duly authorized to receive such payment; 
        and
            ``(2) the term `United States' means the 50 States, the 
        District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any 
        territory or possession of the United States.
    ``(f) Regulations to carry out this section may be prescribed by 
the Postal Service.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 26 of 
title 39, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new item:

``2606. Date of postmark to be treated as date of payment of a bill, 
                            invoice, or statement of account during 
                            limited emergency period.''.
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