[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 97 (Tuesday, June 12, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S3856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2850. Mrs. GILLIBRAND submitted an amendment intended to be
proposed to amendment SA 2282 proposed by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and
Mr. McCain) to the bill H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for
fiscal year 2019 for military activities of the Department of Defense,
for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department
of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal
year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:
At the end of subtitle F of title X, add the following:
SEC. 1066. AUTHORITY FOR THE POSTAL SERVICE TO OFFER CERTAIN
FINANCIAL SERVICES AT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
FACILITIES.
(a) In General.--Section 404 of title 39, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (7), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at the end and
inserting a semicolon; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(9) to provide basic financial services at postal
facilities located at installations and other facilities of
the Department of Defense, including--
``(A) low-cost, small-dollar loans, not to exceed $500 at a
time, or $1,000 from 1 year of the issuance of the initial
loan, as adjusted annually by the Postmaster General to
reflect any change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers of the Department of Labor;
``(B) alone, or in partnership with depository
institutions, as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit
Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813), and Federal credit unions, as
defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12
U.S.C. 1752), small checking accounts and interest-bearing
savings accounts, not to exceed the greater of--
``(i) $20,000 per account; and
``(ii) 25 percent of the median account balance reported in
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's quarterly
Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income;
``(C) transactional services, including debit cards,
automated teller machines, online checking accounts, check-
cashing services, automatic bill-pay, mobile banking, or
other products that allows users to engage in the financial
services described in this paragraph;
``(D) remittance services, including the receiving and
sending of money to domestic or foreign recipients; and
``(E) such other basic financial services as the Postal
Service determines appropriate in the public interest;
``(10) to set interest rates and fees for the financial
instruments and products provided by the Postal Service under
paragraph (9) that--
``(A) ensures that the customer access to the products and
the public interest is given significant consideration;
``(B) ensures that interest rates on savings accounts are
at least 100 percent of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation's weekly national rate on nonjumbo savings
accounts; and
``(C) ensures that the total interest rates on small-dollar
loan amounts--
``(i) are inclusive of interest, fees, charges, and
ancillary products and services; and
``(ii) do not exceed 101 percent of the Treasury 1 month
constant maturity rate; and
``(11) allow capitalization of an amount deemed necessary
by the Postmaster General that serves the purpose of
paragraphs (9) and (10), through an account separate from
products not included or allowed under those paragraphs, for
the purposes of carrying out those paragraphs.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Any net profits from services provided under
subsection (a)(9) that are not greater than the amount of
initial capitalization--
``(1) shall be reported separately from mail service and
delivery;
``(2) in the case of any amount appropriated, shall be
returned to the general fund of the Treasury not later than 9
years after the date of enactment of this subsection; and
``(3) may be repaid to the offering organization or
organizations if the Postmaster General determines that the
services provided under that subsection are not reduced as a
result.''.
(b) No Bank Charter.--The United States Postal Service
shall not--
(1) be granted a bank charter; or
(2) become an insured depository institution, as defined in
section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C.
1813).
(c) UCC.--The United States Postal Service shall be subject
to the provisions of article 4 of the Uniform Commercial
Code.
(d) Regulations.--The Postmaster General, in consultation
with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Bureau of Consumer
Financial Protection, and the Federal banking agencies, shall
promulgate regulations carrying out this section and the
amendments made by this section.
(e) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--Section 404(e)(2)
of title 39, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following: ``The preceding sentence shall not apply
to any financial service offered by the Postal Service under
subsection (a)(9).''.
(f) Rule of Construction.--The services offered by the
United States Postal Service under section 404(a)(9) of title
39, United States Code, as amended by this section--
(1) shall be considered permissible non-banking activities
in accordance with section 225.28 of title 12, Code of
Federal Regulations; and
(2) shall not be considered the business of banking under
the seventh paragraph of section 5136 of the Revised Statutes
(12 U.S.C. 24).
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