[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.


[[Page 799]]
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.).