I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1996 

To provide for free mailing privileges for personal correspondence and parcels 

sent to members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty in Iraq 

or Afghanistan. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2013 

Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New 

York, Mr. RUNYAN, Mr. PETRI, Mr. YOUNG of Florida, and Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To provide for free mailing privileges for personal correspondence and parcels sent to members of the Armed 

Forces serving on active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supply Our Soldiers 

5 Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. POSTAL BENEFITS PROGRAM FOR MEMBERS OF 

2 THE ARMED FORCES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in con4 sultation with the United States Postal Service, shall pro5 vide for a program under which postal benefits shall be 

6 provided to qualified individuals in accordance with suc7 ceeding provisions of this Act. 

8 (b) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 

9 Act, the term ‘‘qualified individual’’ means an individual 

10 who is— 

11 (1) a member of the Armed Forces of the 

12 United States on active duty (as defined in section 

13 101 of title 10, United States Code); and 

14 (2)(A) serving in Iraq or Afghanistan; or 

15 (B) hospitalized at a facility under the jurisdic16 tion of the Armed Forces of the United States as a 

17 result of a disease or injury incurred as a result of 

18 service in Iraq or Afghanistan. 

19 (c) POSTAL BENEFITS DESCRIBED.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The postal benefits provided 

21 under this Act shall consist of such coupons or other 

22 similar evidence of credit (whether in printed, elec23 tronic, or other format, and hereinafter in this Act 

24 referred to as ‘‘vouchers’’) as the Secretary of De25 fense (in consultation with the Postal Service) shall 


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1 determine, entitling the bearer or user to make 

2 qualified mailings free of postage. 

3 (2) QUALIFIED MAILING.—For purposes of this 

4 Act, the term ‘‘qualified mailing’’ means the mailing 

5 of a single mail piece which— 

6 (A) is described in subparagraph (A) or 

7 (B) of paragraph (3); 

8 (B) is sent from within an area served by 

9 a United States post office; and 

10 (C) is addressed to a qualified individual. 

11 (3) MAIL DESCRIBED.—Mail described in this 

12 paragraph is— 

13 (A) any first-class mail (including any 

14 sound- or video-recorded communication) not 

15 exceeding 13 ounces in weight and having the 

16 character of personal correspondence; and 

17 (B) parcel post not exceeding 15 pounds in 

18 weight. 

19 (4) LIMITATIONS.— 

20 (A) NUMBER.—An individual shall be eligi21 ble for 1 voucher for each month in which such 

22 individual is a qualified individual. 

23 (B) USE.—Any such voucher may not be 

24 used— 


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1 (i) for more than a single qualified 

2 mailing; or 

3 (ii) the expiration date of such vouch4 er, as designated by the Secretary of De5 fense. 

6 (5) COORDINATION RULE.—Postal benefits 

7 under this Act shall be in addition to, and not in lieu 

8 of, any reduced rates of postage or other similar 

9 benefits which might otherwise be available by or 

10 under law, including any rates of postage resulting 

11 from the application of section 3401(b) of title 39, 

12 United States Code. 

13 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 30 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

15 (in consultation with the Postal Service) shall prescribe 

16 any regulations necessary to carry out this Act, includ17 ing— 

18 (1) procedures by which vouchers will be pro19 vided or made available in timely manner to persons 

20 duly identified by qualified individuals to receive 

21 those vouchers; and 

22 (2) procedures to ensure that the number of 

23 vouchers provided or made available with respect to 

24 any qualified individual complies with subsection 

25 (c)(4)(A). 


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1 SEC. 3. FUNDING. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro3 priated to the Department of Defense, for fiscal years 

4 2014 through 2019, a sum determined by the Department 

5 of Defense to be equal to the expenses incurred by the 

6 Department in providing the benefits described in sub7 section (b)(3) for such fiscal years. Such sum shall be de8 rived from amounts appropriated in each such fiscal for 

9 the Operation and Maintenance, Defense-wide, for the Of10 fice of the Secretary of Defense, and shall not to exceed 

11 $75 million for the total period beginning with fiscal year 

12 2014 and ending with fiscal year 2019. 

13 (b) TRANSFERS TO POSTAL SERVICE.— 

14 (1) BASED ON ESTIMATES.—The Department 

15 of Defense shall transfer to the Postal Service, out 

16 of any amount so appropriated and in advance of 

17 each calendar quarter during which postal benefits 

18 under this Act may be used, an amount equal to the 

19 amount of postal benefits that the Department of 

20 Defense estimates will be used during such quarter, 

21 reduced or increased (as the case may be) by any 

22 amounts by which the Department finds that a de23 termination under this section for a prior quarter 

24 was greater than or less than the amount finally de25 termined for such quarter. 


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1 (2) BASED ON ANNUAL DETERMINATION.—For 

2 each of the fiscal years 2014 through 2018, an an3 nual determination of the amount necessary to cor4 rect any previous determination under this section 

5 during such fiscal year, and any transfer of amounts 

6 between the Postal Service and the Department of 

7 Defense based on that annual determination, shall 

8 be made not later than 6 months after the end of 

9 such fiscal year. 

10 (3) BASED ON FINAL DETERMINATION.—A 

11 final determination of the amount necessary to cor12 rect any previous determination under this section, 

13 and any transfer of amounts between the Postal 

14 Service and the Department of Defense based on 

15 that final determination, shall be made not later 

16 than 6 months after the end of fiscal year 2019. 

17 (c) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—All estimates and 

18 determinations under this section of the amount of postal 

19 benefits under this Act used in any period shall be made 

20 by the Department of Defense in consultation with the 

21 Postal Service. 


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1 SEC. 4. DURATION. 

2 The postal benefits under this Act shall apply with 

3 respect to mail matter sent during the period beginning 

4 on October 1, 2013, and ending on September 30, 2019. 

Æ 


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