U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

89–010 

" ! SENATE 111th Congress 

2d Session 

REPORT

2010

111–234 

Calendar No. 486 

MULTINATIONAL SPECIES CONSERVATION 

FUNDS SEMIPOSTAL STAMP ACT OF 2010 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

[TO ACCOMPANY H.R. 1454]

TO PROVIDE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A MULTINATIONAL SPECIES 

CONSERVATION FUNDS SEMIPOSTAL STAMP 

JULY 27, 2010.—Ordered to be printed 


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(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

JON TESTER, Montana 

ROLAND W. BURRIS, Illinois 

EDWARD E. KAUFMAN, Delaware 

SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

SCOTT P. BROWN, Massachusetts 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio 

JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada 

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina 

MICHAEL L. ALEXANDER, Staff Director 

KEVIN J. LANDY, Chief Counsel 

KRISTINE V. LAM, Professional Staff Member 

BRANDON L. MILHORN, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

JENNIFER L. TARR, Minority Counsel 

TRINA DRIESSNACK TYRER, Chief Clerk 


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Calendar No. 486 

111th Congress SENATE REPORT " ! 2d Session 111–234 

MULTINATIONAL SPECIES CONSERVATION FUNDS 

SEMIPOSTAL STAMP ACT OF 2010 

JULY 27, 2010.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. LIEBERMAN, from the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1454] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (H.R. 1454) to provide for the 

issuance of a Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal 

Stamp, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with 

an amendment and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Purpose and Summary .................................................................................. 1 

II. Background and Need for the Legislation ................................................... 2 

III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 3 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 3 

V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 4 

VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ................................................ 4 

VII. Changes to Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................... 5 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

H.R. 1454 would require the United States Postal Service to 

issue a Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal 

Stamp. The Multinational Species Conservation Funds is a small 

program administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It 

supports conservation efforts benefiting tigers, rhinoceroses, Asian 

and African elephants, marine turtles and great apes. Semipostals 

are stamps bearing a surcharge above typical postal rates. Members of the public may voluntarily purchase semipostals as a means 

of donating to the cause promoted by the stamp. Directing funds 

raised from the sale of this semipostal to the Multinational Species 

Conservation Funds is an effective way to increase financial supVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:48 Jul 28, 2010 Jkt 089010 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR234.XXX SR234

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1 In 2000, Congress gave the Postal Service authority to issue semipostals pursuant to the 

Semipostal Authorization Act (P.L. 106–253). However, the Postal Service has not yet issued a 

semipostal pursuant to the Act because it had decided not to approve new semipostals while 

any other semipostals are in circulation. Such stamps have been on sale continuously since the 

initial enactment of the Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act (P.L. 105–41). 2Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act (P.L. 105–41). 

3Stamp Out Domestic Violence Act of 2001 (P.L. 107–67). 

4The 9/11 Heroes Stamp Act of 2001 (P.L. 107–67). 

5The MSCF was created as part of Title I of the Department of the Interior and Relation 

Agencies Appropriations Act (16 U.S.C. 4246) which was later incorporated into Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999 (P.L. 105–277). 

port for the Funds’ important work without having to increase its 

annual appropriations. 

II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

Since 1998, the U.S. Postal Service (‘‘the Postal Service’’ or 

‘‘USPS’’) has issued several ‘‘semipostal’’ stamps—stamps purchasers may use to mail a first class letter, but for which they voluntarily pay a surcharge over the usual first-class rates as a means 

to donate to the cause commemorated by the stamp. Since that 

time, all of the semipostals issued have been done so at the direction of Congress.1 A variety of causes have benefited from the sale 

of these stamps, including breast cancer research,2 domestic violence prevention programs,3 and assistance to the families of rescue workers killed or disabled in the terrorist attacks of September 

11, 2001.4

The Committee agrees with the House of Representatives that 

the Multinational Species Conservation Funds (‘‘MSCF’’ or ‘‘the 

Funds’’) is equally deserving of a semipostal stamp. Congress created the MSCF in 1999 to recognize an unprecedented international decline of certain species and to help save some of the 

world’s fastest disappearing animals in their natural habitats.5 The 

MSCF currently benefits tigers, six species of rhinoceroses, Asian 

and African elephants, marine turtles, and great apes, and has 

generated tremendous amounts of interest among interest groups 

such as the World Conservation Society and citizens. The Funds 

supports conservation efforts benefiting these species, often in conjunction with efforts under the Convention of International Trade 

in Endangered Species (CITES), to which the United States is a 

party. The MSCF provides funding in the form of cost-sharing 

grants for species and habitat conservation as well as law enforcement. Additionally, the Funds offer technical assistance for conserving species under the MSCF. These efforts also benefit from 

funding and in-kind support provided by partners and collaborators. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which runs 

the program, $75 million was provided by partners and collaborators for efforts under the MSCF from Fiscal Year 2004 to Fiscal 

Year 2009. This is nearly double the amount appropriated for these 

efforts during the same period. 

Despite the success and popularity of the MSCF programs, an- nual appropriations for the MSCF have never exceeded $10 million. 

Demand for grant funding, however, remains high, and applications under the different MSCF programs far exceed available 

funding. In addition, proponents of MSCF programs note that each 

federal dollar invested in the MSCF routinely leverages three or 

four times the amount in non-federal matching contributions and 

increases overall financial support for wildlife conservation. The 


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6During debate over this bill, Senator Akaka stated that while he supports the MSCF and 

funding for the program, he opposed the bill because he believes that the Postal Service, not 

Congress, should determine the issuance of semipostals through the process it established as 

a result of enactment of the Semipostal Authorization Act in 2000. 

issuance of a semipostal stamp benefiting the MSCF would be an 

effective way to increase financial support for wildlife conservation 

without affecting appropriations for other programs outside the 

MSCF. 

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

On December 7, 2009, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 

1454, sponsored by Representative Henry E. Brown, Jr. and 154 cosponsors, by voice vote. The bill was received in the Senate on December 9, 2009, and referred to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where it was subsequently referred 

to the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security 

(FFM), which has jurisdiction over matters relating to the U.S. 

Postal Service. 

Having been polled out of the Subcommittee, the full Committee 

considered the bill on April 28, 2010. Senator Carper, Chairman of 

the FFM Subcommittee, offered an amendment in the nature of a 

substitute to address concerns of the Postal Service. The substitute 

amendment makes the MSCF semipostal stamp consistent with requirements under the Semipostal Authorization Act (39 U.S.C. § 

14) by lowering the rate of the semipostal from ‘‘no less than 25%’’ 

to ‘‘no less than 15%’’ above the rate of a first class stamp and 

mandating that the MSCF semipostal be sold at an amount that 

is evenly divisible by 5. Additionally, the substitute amendment 

lowers the authorization period for the MSCF semipostal stamp 

from five years to two years and eliminates the requirement in the 

original bill that the images of the flagship multinational species 

be depicted on the semipostal. The Committee adopted the substitute amendment by voice vote, but the April 28, 2010, meeting 

adjourned before the Committee had a chance to vote on reporting 

the bill. Members present for the voice vote on the substitute 

amendment were Senators Lieberman, Akaka, Carper, Pryor, Kaufman, Collins, and Graham. The Committee met again on May 17, 

2010 and reported the bill, as amended, by voice vote with a recorded ‘‘no’’ for Senators Akaka and Burris.6 Additional Senators 

present were Lieberman, Carper, Pryor, Landrieu, Collins, Brown, 

Voinovich, and Graham. 

IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

Section 1 designates the name of the act as the ‘‘Multinational 

Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act of 2010.’’ 

Section 2. Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal 

Stamp 

Section 2 directs the U.S. Postal Service to issue a Multinational 

Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp which would be 

available for voluntary purchase on the part of postal patrons for 

a period of two years after the enactment of this bill. In keeping 


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with the requirements of the Semipostal Authorization Act (39 

U.S.C. § 14), Section 2 sets the rate of the semipostal at a cost 

equal to the rate of a first class stamp, plus a differential of no less 

than 15%. It also requires the rate to be evenly divisible by 5. 

The Section also directs the transfer of all amounts available 

from the sale of the stamp twice yearly to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and directs the Fish and Wildlife Service to divide the 

proceeds equally for operations among the African Elephant Conservation Fund, the Asian Elephant Conservation Fund, the Great 

Ape Conservation Fund, the Marine Turtle Conservation Fund, the 

Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund, and other international 

wildlife conservation funds authorized by Congress after the date 

of the enactment of the Act. These funds are not to be considered 

as an offset in the level of appropriations or other federal funding. 

V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of 

the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered 

the regulatory impact of this bill. The Congressional Budget Office 

states that the bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act and 

would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments, or private entities. The enactment of this legislation will not have significant regulatory impact. 

VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

MAY 26, 2010. 

Hon. JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, 

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1454, the Multinational 

Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act of 2010. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark Grabowicz. 

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 1454—Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal 

Stamp Act of 2010 

CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1454 would have no significant discretionary cost to the federal government. Because the 

act would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would 

apply, but CBO estimates that those effects would not be significant. H.R. 1454 would not affect revenues. H.R. 1454 contains no 

intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of 

state, local, or tribal governments. 

H.R. 1454 would direct the United States Postal Service to issue 

a special postage stamp for first-class mail that would cost participating customers at least 15 percent more than the regular rate. 

Any amounts collected from the special stamp (called a semipostal), 

after accounting for the Postal Service’s administrative costs, would 


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be transferred to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

(USFWS) for expenditure on programs to support endangered species. The Postal Service would have 12 months after enactment to 

make the semipostal available to the public, and the program 

would terminate no sooner than two years after that. 

Payments of amounts above the regular first-class postage rate 

(currently 44 cents) would be treated as offsetting collections (that 

is, a credit against spending) of the Postal Service. Based on sales 

of other semipostals in recent years, we expect that the increase in 

offsetting collections would total less than $1 million annually. 

Payments of those funds to the USFWS would be outlays of the 

Postal Service and offsetting collections to the USFWS, which 

would spend those amounts mostly in the same year. CBO estimates that the net change in outlays of the Postal Service (which 

is off-budget) and the USFWS (which is on-budget) would not be 

significant in any year. 

On June 23, 2009, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 

1454 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on June 10, 2009. The two versions of the legislation are 

similar, and the estimated costs are the same. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz. The 

estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

VII. CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

If enacted, this bill would make no changes to existing law. 

Æ 


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