    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 106th Congress]
    [106th Congress]
    [House Document 105-358]
    [Rules of the House of Representatives]
    [Pages 854-858]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    Limitations on use of official and unofficial accounts
                Rule XXV.--LIMITATIONS ON USE OF OFFICIAL FUNDS

    1096. Limitation on accounts.

      1.  A Member, Delegate, or
    Resident Commissioner may not maintain, or have maintained for his use,
    an unofficial office account. Funds may not be paid into an unofficial
    office account.

    [[Page 855]]

    satellite services, the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may
    accept reimbursement from nonpolitical entities in that amount for
    transmission to the Clerk for credit to the Official Expenses Allowance.
      2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this rule, if an amount from
    the Official Expenses Allowance of a Member, Delegate, or Resident
    Commissioner is paid into the House Recording Studio revolving fund for
    telecommunications

      3. In this rule the term ``unofficial office account'' means an
    account or repository in which funds are received for the purpose of
    defraying otherwise unreimbursed expenses allowable under section 162(a)
    of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as ordinary and necessary in the
    operation of a congressional office, and includes a newsletter fund
    referred to in section 527(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

      This provision (former rule XLV) was adopted in the 95th Congress (H.
    Res. 287, Mar. 2, 1977, pp. 5933-53). It was amended in the 102d
    Congress to permit Members to receive reimbursements to their expense
    allowances for recording studio charges attributable to nonpolitical
    organizations receiving the transmissions (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p.
    39). When the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, it
    consolidated former rules XLV and XLVI under clauses 1 through 9 of rule
    XXV and the second sentence of former clause 8 of rule I and former
    clauses 2(n)(5) and 5(e) of rule XI under clause 10 of rule XXV (H. Res.
    5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. ----).

    Limitations on use of the frank
      For an in-depth discussion of this rule prepared by the Committee on
    Standards of Official Conduct, see the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong.,
    2d Sess.).

    1097. Limitations on use of frank.

      4.  A Member, Delegate,
    or Resident Commissioner shall mail franked mail under section 3210(d)
    of title 39, United States Code at the most economical rate of postage
    practicable.

    [[Page 856]]

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

      6. A mass mailing that is otherwise frankable by a Member, Delegate,
    or Resident Commissioner under the provisions of section 3210(e) of
    title 39, United States Code, is not frankable unless the cost of
    preparing and printing it is defrayed exclusively from funds made
    available in an appropriation Act.

      7. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not send a mass
    mailing outside the congressional district from which he was elected.

      8. In the case of a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner, a mass
    mailing is not frankable under section 3210 of title 39, United States
    Code, when it is postmarked less than 60 days before the date of a
    primary or general election (whether regular, special, or runoff) in
    which he is a candidate for public office. If the mail matter is of a
    type that is not customarily postmarked, the date on which it would have
    been postmarked, if it were of a type customarily postmarked, applies.

    [[Page 857]]

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

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

          (b) from a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner to other
    Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, or Senators, or to
    Federal, State, or local government officials; or

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

      This provision (former rule XLVI) 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. 39). Clause 7 (former 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. Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress,
    this provision was found in former rule XLVI (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999,
    p. ----).

    Prohibition on use of funds by Members not elected to succeeding
      For an in-depth discussion of this rule prepared by the Committee on
    Standards of Official Conduct, see the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong.,
    2d Sess.).

            Congress

    [[Page 858]]

    Commissioner who is not a candidate in a general election, after the
    earlier of the date of such general election or the adjournment sine die
    of the last regular session of the Congress.

    1098. Travel by Members not reelected.

      10.  Funds from the
    applicable accounts described in clause 1(i)(1) of rule X, including
    funds from committee expense resolutions, and funds in any local
    currencies owned by the United States may not be made available for
    travel by a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or Senator after
    the date of a general election in which he was not elected to the
    succeeding Congress or, in the case of a Member, Delegate, or Resident

      This provision was added in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 287, Mar. 2,
    1977, p. 5941). In the 105th and 106th Congresses this clause was
    amended to update archaic references to the ``contingent fund'' (H. Res.
    5, Jan. 7, 1997, p. ----; H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. ----). When the
    House recodified its rules, it consolidated the second sentence of
    former clause 8 of rule I and former clauses 2(n)(5) and 5(e) of rule XI
    under clause 10 of rule XXV (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. ----).