[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 152 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 152

    To provide for the issuance of a forever stamp to recognize the 
    historical importance of Prince Hall Freemasonry, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 3, 2017

Mr. Al Green of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred 
          to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide for the issuance of a forever stamp to recognize the 
    historical importance of Prince Hall Freemasonry, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Prince Hall Freemasonry Stamp Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) Prince Hall Freemasonry was founded by Prince Hall on 
        March 6, 1775;
            (2) Hall and fourteen other men of color were rejected by 
        colonial Freemasonry due to their race;
            (3) the group was later initiated into Masonry through a 
        military lodge created during the American Revolutionary War, 
        but were later denied admission to Lodges in the United States 
        after the war;
            (4) Prince Hall Freemasonry was founded on ideals of 
        equality, liberty and peace; and
            (5) Prince Hall Masons are the oldest and largest group of 
        Masons of African origin in the world.

SEC. 3. PRINCE HALL FREEMASONRY STAMP.

    (a) In General.--In order to the recognize the historical 
importance of Prince Hall Freemasonry, the Postmaster General shall 
provide for the issuance of a forever stamp suitable for that purpose 
that depicts the logo of Prince Hall Freemasonry.
    (b) Definition.--For purposes of this Act, the term ``forever 
stamp'' means a definitive stamp which meets the postage required for 
first-class mail up to one ounce in weight, and which retains full 
validity for that purpose even if the rate of that postage is later 
increased.
    (c) Effective Date.--The stamp described in subsection (a) shall be 
issued beginning as soon as practicable after the date of the enactment 
of this Act.
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