    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 104th Congress]
    [104th Congress]
    [House Document 103-342]
    [Rules of the House of Representatives]
    [Pages 798-800]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                   Rule XLVI.

                      LIMITATIONS ON THE USE OF THE FRANK.

    Sec. 942.

      1. Any  franked mail which is mailed by a Member
    under section 3210(d) of title 39, United States Code, shall be mailed
    at the equivalent rate of postage which assures that such mail will be
    sent by the most economical means practicable.

      2. A Member shall, before making any mass mailing, submit a sample or
    description of the mail matter involved to the House Commission on
    Congressional Mailing Standards for an advisory opinion as to whether
    such proposed mailing is in compliance with applicable provisions of
    law, rule, or regulation.

      3. Any mass mailing which otherwise is frankable by a Member under the
    provisions of section 3210(e) of title 39, United States Code, shall not
    be frankable unless the cost of preparing and printing such mass mailing
    is defrayed exclusively from funds made available in any appropriations
    Act.

      4. A Member may not send any mass mailing outside the congressional
    district from which the Member was elected.

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    statewide public office, any mass mailing shall not be frankable under
    section 3210 of title 39, United States Code, when the same is delivered
    to any address which is not located in the area constituting the
    congressional district from which any such individual was elected.
      5. In the case of any Representative in the House of Representatives,
    other than a Representative at Large, who is a candidate for any

      6. In the case of any Member, any mass mailing shall not be frankable
    under section 3210 of title 39, United States Code, when the same is
    postmarked less than sixty days immediately before the date of any
    primary or general election (whether regular, special, or runoff) in
    which such Member is a candidate for public office. If mail matter is of
    a type which is not customarily postmarked, the date on which such
    matter would have been postmarked if it were of a type customarily
    postmarked shall apply.

      7. For purposes of this rule--

      (a) The term ``mass mailing'' means, with respect to a session in
    Congress, any mailing of newsletters or other pieces of mail with
    substantially identical content (whether such mail is deposited singly
    or in bulk, or at the same time or different times), totaling more than
    500 pieces in that session, except that such term does not include any
    mailing--

              (1) of matter in direct response to a communication from a
    person to whom the matter is mailed;

    [[Page 800]]

              (2) from a Member to other Members of Congress, or to Federal,
    State, or local government officials; or

              (3) of a news release to the communications media.

      (b) The term ``Member'' means any Member of the House of
    Representatives, a Delegate to the House of Representatives, or the
    Resident Commissioner in the House of Representatives.

      (c) The term ``Members of Congress'' means Senators and
    Representatives in, and Delegates and Resident Commissioners to, the
    Congress.

      This rule was adopted in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 287, Mar. 2, 1977,
    pp. 5933-53). In the 102d Congress it was extensively amended to conform
    to restrictions on franking and mass mailings included in the
    legislative branch appropriations acts for fiscal years 1990 and 1991
    (P.L. 101-163 and 101-520, respectively) (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. --
    --). Clause 4 was rewritten in the 103d Congress to conform to the
    statutory prohibition against mass mailings outside the congressional
    district from which a Member was elected.

      For an indepth discussion of this rule prepared by the Committee on
    Standards of Official Conduct, see the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong.,
    2d Sess.).