[Senate Report 112-97]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 239
112th Congress 
 1st Session                     SENATE                          Report
                                                                 112-97
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     

                                                       


 
  AMEND TITLE 39, UNITED STATES CODE, TO EXTEND THE AUTHORITY OF THE 
 UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE TO ISSUE A SEMIPOSTAL TO RAISE FUNDS FOR 
                         BREAST CANCER RESEARCH

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                 S. 384

  AMEND TITLE 39, UNITED STATES CODE, TO EXTEND THE AUTHORITY OF THE 
 UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE TO ISSUE A SEMIPOSTAL TO RAISE FUNDS FOR 
                         BREAST CANCER RESEARCH




               November 29, 2011.--Ordered to be printed
               

        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

               JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan                 SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii              TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           SCOTT P. BROWN, Massachusetts
MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas              JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana          RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri           ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
JON TESTER, Montana                  RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MARK BEGICH, Alaska                  JERRY MORAN, Kansas

                  Michael L. Alexander, Staff Director
       Beth M. Grossman, Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel
               Kristine V. Lam, Professional Staff Member
               Nicholas A. Rossi, Minority Staff Director
          Scott R. Slusher, Minority Professional Staff Member
                  Trina Driessnack Tyrer, Chief Clerk

                                                       Calendar No. 239
112th Congress
                                 SENATE
                                                                 Report
 1st Session                                                     112-97

======================================================================


  AMEND TITLE 39, UNITED STATES CODE, TO EXTEND THE AUTHORITY OF THE 
 UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE TO ISSUE A SEMIPOSTAL TO RAISE FUNDS FOR 
                         BREAST CANCER RESEARCH

                                _______
                                

               November 29, 2011.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Lieberman, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 384]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 384) to amend title 
39, United States Code, to extend the authority of the United 
States Postal Service to issue a semipostal to raise funds for 
breast cancer research, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................1
III.  Legislative History.............................................3
 IV.  Section-by-Section Analysis.....................................3
  V. Regulatory Impact Statement......................................3
 VI.  Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate.......................3
VII. Changes to Existing Law..........................................6

                         I. Purpose and Summary

    S. 384 reauthorizes the Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act (P.L. 
105-41) through December 31, 2015. This Act authorizes a 
special first-class mail postage stamp to raise funds for 
breast cancer research efforts. Purchasers pay 55 cents for the 
stamp--11 cents above the regular rate of 44 cents. The Postal 
Service remits the extra funds (minus the cost of running the 
program) for breast cancer research.

              II. Background and Need for the Legislation

    Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women 
(after skin cancer) and kills more women than any cancer other 
than that of the lung.\1\ One in eight women in the United 
States will develop breast cancer over the course of their 
lifetime.\2\ The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that 
in 2011, approximately 232,620 new cases of breast cancer will 
be diagnosed in the United States.\3\ To supplement federal and 
private funding for breast cancer research, Congress in 1997 
first passed legislation authorizing the Breast Cancer Research 
Semipostal (BCRS) to increase public awareness of the disease 
and allow the public to participate directly in raising funds 
for such research. From its first issuance in July 1998 through 
October 2011, the BCRS has raised a total of $74.2 million for 
breast cancer research.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of 
Health, National Cancer Institute. Report to Congress: Use of Funds 
Received for Semipostal Stamp for Breast Cancer Research, Fiscal Year 
2010. January 2011. http://obf.cancer.gov/contribute/BCStamp 
ReportFY2010.pdf
    \2\National Cancer Institute at the U.S. National Institutes of 
Health. Cancer of the Breast: SEER Stat Fact. Retrieved from: http://
seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/breast.html. November 14, 2011.
    \3\National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. 
Retrieved from http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/breast. 
November 14, 2011.
    \4\U.S. Postal Service figures as provided to the Senate Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on November 21, 2011.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The BCRS is supported by the American Cancer Society and 
the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, as well as by 
postal consumers who have supported strong annual sales of the 
stamp. The Committee also recognizes that with 65 cosponsors, 
S. 384 has broad Senate support.
    The Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act provides that the Postal 
Service is to deduct from the amount it charges over regular 
first class stamps its reasonable costs for carrying out the 
Act. After deducting its reasonable costs, the Postal Service 
remits the remaining proceeds from the BCRS surcharge revenue 
to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department 
of Defense (DOD) for breast cancer research. Seventy percent of 
the net proceeds go to NIH, with the remaining 30 percent going 
to DOD's medical research program.
    The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported 
that the Breast Cancer Research stamp has been an effective 
fundraiser, with funds raised through sales of the stamp 
contributing to key insights and approaches for the treatment 
of breast cancer. For example, in 2006, NIH started using 
Breast Cancer Research stamp proceeds for the Trial Assigning 
Individual Options for Treatment (TAILORx) and the Breast Pre-
Malignancy Program. TAILORx is designed to determine which 
patients with early stage breast cancer are most likely to 
benefit from chemotherapy. The Trans-NCI Breast Pre-Malignancy 
Program--another BCRS-funded program--is an NCI program to 
research factors involved in developing pre-malignant breast 
tumors, in the transition of these tumors into malignant tumors 
and in the effectiveness of various diagnostics and early-
intervention approaches. This program was established in hopes 
that linking NCI's research programs with research programs 
underway at universities, medical schools, hospitals, and 
research institutions would create a collaborative and 
integrated program that would result in new discoveries and 
interventions.\5\ Additionally, DOD has used its share of the 
proceeds from the Breast Cancer Research stamp to fund 
Synergistic Idea Awards. This program promotes new ideas and 
collaborations by funding innovative, high-risk, high reward 
breast cancer research projects involving two researchers 
working synergistically.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\GAO, U.S. Postal Service: Agencies Distribute Fund-raising Stamp 
Proceeds and Improve Reporting, GAO-08-45 (Washington, D.C.: October 
2007).
    \6\Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        III. Legislative History

    S. 384 was introduced on February 17, 2011, by Senator 
Dianne Feinstein. It currently has 65 cosponsors. The bill was 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs. The Committee considered the bill at its business 
meeting on October 19, 2011, and by voice vote ordered it 
reported favorably without amendment. Senators Lieberman, 
Akaka, Carper, Pryor, McCaskill, Begich, Collins, Brown, 
Johnson and Moran were present for the vote.

                    IV. Section-By-Section Analysis

    Section 1 of the bill (its only section) extends the Postal 
Service's authority to issue the Breast Cancer Research Stamp 
for an additional four years.

                     V. Regulatory Impact Statement

    Paragraph 11(b)(1) of rule XXVI of Standing Rules of the 
Senate requires that each report accompanying a bill evaluate 
``the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 
this bill.''
    Enactment of this legislation would have no significant 
regulatory impact. S. 384 contains no intergovernmental or 
private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act and would impose no costs on the budgets of State, 
local, or tribal governments.

             VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

                                                  November 1, 2011.
Hon. Joseph I. Lieberman,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 384, a bill to amend 
title 39, United States Code, to extend the authority of the 
United States Postal Service to issue a semipostal to raise 
funds for breast cancer research.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark 
Grabowicz.
            Sincerely,
                                              Douglas W. Elmendorf.
    Enclosure.

S. 384 A bill to amend title 39, United States Code, to extend the 
        authority of the United States Postal Service to issue a 
        semipostal to raise funds for breast cancer research

    Summary: The Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act (Public Law 105-
41) authorized a special postage stamp for first-class mail. 
The price of this stamp is 55 cents, 11 cents above the regular 
rate of 44 cents. The authority to issue the stamp expires on 
December 31, 2011. After accounting for the Postal Service's 
administrative costs, amounts above the regular postal rate 
collected from sales of the special stamp are transferred to 
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of 
Defense (DoD) to spend on breast cancer research. S. 384 would 
extend this program until December 31, 2015.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 384 would increase or 
decrease direct spending in most of the years 2012 through 2018 
but would have no net effect on direct spending over the period 
as a whole. On balance, we estimate that enacting the bill 
would result in a net reduction in direct spending of $2 
million over the 2012-2016 period, but that savings would be 
offset by increased direct spending in 2017 and 2018, leading 
to no net impact over the 2012-2021 period. Pay-as-you-go 
procedures apply because enacting the legislation would affect 
direct spending. The legislation would not affect revenues.
    S. 384 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    Estimated Cost to the Federal Government: The estimated 
budgetary impact of S. 384 is shown in the following table. The 
costs of this legislation fall within budget functions 050 
(national defense), 370 (commerce and housing credit), and 550 
(health).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                  By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     2012    2013    2014    2015    2016    2017    2018    2019    2020    2021   2012-2016  2012-2021
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               CHANGES IN DIRECT SPENDING
 
                                                                   Off-Budget Effects
 
Impact on the Postal Service:
    Estimated Budget Authority....................      -2       0       0       0       2       0       0       0       0       0         0          0
    Estimated Outlays.............................      -2       0       0       0       2       0       0       0       0       0         0          0
 
                                                                    On-Budget Effects
 
Impact on NIH and DoD:
    Estimated Budget Authority....................       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0         0          0
    Estimated Outlays.............................      -1      -2       *       *       1       2       *       0       0       0        -2          0
 
                                                                 Unified Budget Effects
 
Total Changes:
    Estimated Budget Authority....................      -2       0       0       0       2       0       0       0       0       0         0          0
    Estimated Outlays.............................      -3      -2       *       *       3       2       *       0       0       0        -2         0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: * = between -$500,000 and $500,000.

    Basis of Estimate: Extending the authority to issue the 
special breast cancer stamp would generate additional 
offsetting receipts that would be spent without further 
appropriation for research on the disease. Although such 
transactions are a form of direct spending, the amounts 
collected and transferred by the Postal Service would be 
classified as ``off-budget,'' while the amounts received and 
spent by NIH and DoD would be recorded as ``on-budget'' 
effects. The budgetary impacts on each category and in 
individual years would vary because of the timing of such 
collections and spending, but CBO estimates that implementing 
this bill would have no net impact on the unified budget over 
the next 10 years.
    Based on sales of the special breast cancer stamp in recent 
years, CBO estimates that enacting S. 384 would generate 
collections above the regular postage rate of $16 million over 
the next five years--about $3 million in fiscal year 2012, $4 
million in each of fiscal years 2013 through 2015, and $1 
million in 2016. After covering its administrative costs (about 
$100,000 over this period), the Postal Service would transfer 
those collections to NIH and DoD in May and November of each 
year. In fiscal year 2012, for example, the Postal Service 
would transfer $1 million to NIH and DoD, resulting in a net 
reduction of $2 million in Postal Service outlays in 2012. The 
net impact on the Postal Service over the 2012-2016 period, 
however, would be zero. Spending and collections of the Postal 
Service are classified as ``off-budget.''
    Those transfers from the Postal Service would increase NIH 
and DoD collections by $1 million in 2012, $4 million annually 
over the 2013-2015 period, and by $3 million in 2016. Because 
spending of those collections would lag behind the amounts 
collected by several months, we estimate that NIH and DoD 
accounts (which are on budget) would show net outlay reductions 
totaling $3 million over the 2012-2015 period and a 
corresponding increase in outlays from 2016 through 2018. The 
net unified budget impact of the proposal (including on-budget 
and off-budget effects) also would be zero over the 2012-2018 
period, with no effect after 2018.
    Pay-As-You-Go Considerations: The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go 
Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement 
procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or 
revenues. The net changes in outlays that are subject to those 
pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in the following table. Only 
on-budget changes to outlays or revenues are subject to pay-as-
you-go procedures. Enacting S. 384 would affect on-budget 
direct spending by NIH and DoD.

  CBO ESTIMATE OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO EFFECTS FOR S. 384 AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS ON OCTOBER
                                                                        19, 2011
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                  By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     2012    2013    2014    2015    2016    2017    2018    2019    2020    2021   2012-2016  2012-2021
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  NET INCREASE OR DECREASE (-) IN THE ON-BUDGET DEFICIT
 
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Impact....................      -1      -2       0       0       1       2       0       0       0       0        -2          0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Intergovernmental and Private-sector impact: S. 384 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in UMRA and would not affect the budgets of state, 
local, or tribal governments.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Mark Grabowicz; Impact 
on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Elizabeth Cove 
Delisle; Impact on the Private Sector: Paige Piper/Bach.
    Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                      VII. Changes to Existing Law

    In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill S. 384, as ordered reported, are shown as follows 
(existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black 
brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in 
which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

                        TITLE 39, POSTAL SERVICE

                            PART I--GENERAL

                      CHAPTER 4. GENERAL AUTHORITY


Sec. 414. Special postage stamps

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    (h) This section shall cease to be effective after December 
31, [2011] 2015.