I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2126 

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 

APRIL 27, 2009 

Mr. REHBERG 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 ‘‘Correspondence With 

5 Our Heroes Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. POSTAL BENEFITS PROGRAM FOR MEMBERS OF 

7 THE ARMED FORCES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in con9 sultation with the United States Postal Service, shall proVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:12 Apr 28, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2126.IH H2126

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1 vide for a program under which postal benefits shall be 

2 provided to qualified individuals in accordance with suc3 ceeding provisions of this Act. 

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

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

6 who is— 

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

8 United States on active duty (as defined in section 

9 101 of title 10, United States Code); and 

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

11 (B) hospitalized at a facility under the jurisdic12 tion of the Armed Forces of the United States as a 

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

14 service in Iraq or Afghanistan. 

15 (c) POSTAL BENEFITS DESCRIBED.— 

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

17 under this Act shall consist of such coupons or other 

18 similar evidence of credit (whether in printed, elec19 tronic, or other format, and hereinafter in this Act 

20 referred to as ‘‘vouchers’’) as the Secretary of De21 fense (in consultation with the Postal Service) shall 

22 determine, entitling the bearer or user to make 

23 qualified mailings free of postage. 


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

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

3 of a single mail piece which— 

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

5 (B) of paragraph (3); 

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

7 a United States post office; and 

8 (C) is addressed to a qualified individual. 

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

10 paragraph is— 

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

12 sound- or video-recorded communication) not 

13 exceeding 13 ounces in weight and having the 

14 character of personal correspondence; and 

15 (B) parcel post not exceeding 15 pounds in 

16 weight. 

17 (4) LIMITATIONS.— 

18 (A) NUMBER.—An individual shall be eligi19 ble for 1 voucher for each month in which such 

20 individual is a qualified individual. 

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

22 used— 

23 (i) for more than a single qualified 

24 mailing; or 

25 (ii) after the earlier of— 


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1 (I) the expiration date of such 

2 voucher, as designated by the Sec3 retary of Defense; or 

4 (II) the last day of the 1-year pe5 riod referred to in section 4. 

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 a sum determined 

4 by the Department of Defense to be equal to the expenses 

5 incurred by the Department in providing the benefits de6 scribed in section 2(c). 

7 (b) TRANSFERS TO POSTAL SERVICE.— 

8 (1) BASED ON ESTIMATES.—The Department 

9 of Defense shall transfer to the Postal Service, out 

10 of any amount so appropriated and in advance of 

11 each calendar quarter during which postal benefits 

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

13 amount of postal benefits that the Department of 

14 Defense estimates will be used during such quarter, 

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

16 amounts by which the Department finds that a de17 termination under this section for a prior quarter 

18 was greater than or less than the amount finally de19 termined for such quarter. 

20 (2) BASED ON FINAL DETERMINATION.—A 

21 final determination of the amount necessary to cor22 rect any previous determination under this section, 

23 and any transfer of amounts between the Postal 

24 Service and the Department of Defense based on 

25 that final determination, shall be made not later 


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1 than 6 months after the end of the 1-year period re2 ferred to in section 4. 

3 (c) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—All estimates and 

4 determinations under this section of the amount of postal 

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

6 by the Department of Defense in consultation with the 

7 Postal Service. 

8 SEC. 4. DURATION. 

9 The postal benefits under this Act shall apply with 

10 respect to mail matter sent during the 1-year period begin11 ning on the date on which the regulations under section 

12 2(d) take effect. 

Æ 


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