[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 140 (Wednesday, October 17, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S10796]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SANTORUM:
  S. 1562. A bill to amend title 39, United States Code, with respect 
to cooperative mailings; to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation that 
will protect the right of charities, faith-based organizations, and 
other nonprofit groups to use the nonprofit mail rate for their 
fundraising activities.
  The legislation clarifies ambiguities in the Postal Reorganization 
Act of 1970, PRA, which established a nonprofit mail rate for 
charities. In recent years, the United States Postal Service, USPS, has 
increasingly applied PRA regulations that disqualify nonprofits from 
entering into agreements with commercial printing and mailing 
businesses to produce and administer mailings. Because of this 
misapplication, the USPS has been forcing charities to pay the full 
commercial rate on some fundraising letters merely because they hire 
third parties to print and prepare them. The result is a 40 percent 
increase in postal costs for these charities.
  My legislation would allow charities and faith-based organizations to 
share ownership of their mailing with commercial printing and mailing 
businesses and still qualify for the nonprofit mailing rate. In effect, 
it would permit charities to mail at nonprofit rates whether they 
prepare the mailing themselves or hire someone else to do it for them 
since the purpose of the mailing remains a nonprofit one. 
Representative Dan Burton has introduced similar bipartisan legislation 
in the House of Representatives as H.R. 1169.
  It is important to point out that this bill maintains existing 
federal law that prohibits unauthorized parties from using the 
nonprofit rate to sell goods or services by mail. Moreover, the 
legislation does not limit the USPS' authority to enforce any other 
section of federal postal law. The USPS has been consulted as a part of 
the development of the legislation.
  This legislation will enable charities, churches, synagogues, 
educational, advocacy, and other nonprofit organizations to negotiate 
the best agreements they can for their fundraising programs. The net 
result will be lower fundraising costs and more funds being available 
for nonprofits to serve others. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to 
join me in support of this initiative.
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