II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7512 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 3, 2020 

Received 

AN ACT 

To rename the House Commission on Congressional Mailing 

Standards as the House Communications Standards 

Commission, to extend the authority of the Commission 

to regulate mass mailings of Members and Memberselect of the House of Representatives to all unsolicited 

mass communications of Members and Members-elect of 

the House, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Communications Out5 reach Media and Mail Standards Act’’ or the ‘‘COMMS 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. RENAMING HOUSE COMMISSION ON CONGRES8 SIONAL MAILING STANDARDS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5(a) of the Act entitled 

10 ‘‘An Act to amend title 39, United States Code, to clarify 

11 the proper use of the franking privilege by Members of 

12 Congress, and for other purposes’’, approved December 

13 18, 1973 (2 U.S.C. 501(a)), is amended by striking 

14 ‘‘House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘House Communications Standards Com16 mission’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (1) TITLE 39.—Title 39, United States Code, is 

19 amended by striking ‘‘House Commission on Con20 gressional Mailing Standards’’ and inserting ‘‘House 

21 Communications Standards Commission’’ each place 

22 it appears in the following sections: 

23 (A) Section 3210(a)(5), (a)(6)(D), (b)(3), 

24 (d)(5), and (d)(6)(A). 

25 (B) Section 3216(e)(1) and (e)(2). 


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1 (C) Section 3220(b). 

2 (2) OTHER PROVISIONS.—Section 311 of the 

3 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1991 (2 

4 U.S.C. 503) is amended by striking ‘‘House Com5 mission on Congressional Mailing Standards’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘House Communications Standards Com7 mission’’ each place it appears in subsections (a)(3), 

8 (e)(1)(B), and (f). 

9 (c) REFERENCES IN OTHER DOCUMENTS.—Any ref10 erence in any rule, regulation, or other document to the 

11 House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards 

12 shall be deemed to be a reference to the House Commu13 nications Standards Commission. 

14 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION OVER OFFICIAL MASS 

15 COMMUNICATIONS. 

16 (a) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE REGARDING

17 DISSEMINATION OF MASS COMMUNICATIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5(d) of the Act enti19 tled ‘‘An Act to amend title 39, United States Code, 

20 to clarify the proper use of the franking privilege by 

21 Members of Congress, and for other purposes’’, ap22 proved December 18, 1973 (2 U.S.C. 501(d)), is 

23 amended— 


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1 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘The 

2 Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) The Commis3 sion’’; and 

4 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

5 paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(2) In addition to the guidance, assistance, ad7 vice, and counsel described in paragraph (1), the 

8 Commission shall provide— 

9 ‘‘(A) guidance, assistance, advice, and 

10 counsel, through advisory opinions or consulta11 tions, in connection with any law and with any 

12 rule or regulation of the House of Representa13 tives governing the dissemination of mass com14 munications other than franked mail; and 

15 ‘‘(B) guidance, assistance, advice, and 

16 counsel in connection with any law and with 

17 any rule or regulation of the House of Rep18 resentatives governing the official content of 

19 other official communications of any quantity, 

20 whether solicited or unsolicited.’’. 

21 (2) AUTHORITY TO INVESTIGATE COM22 PLAINTS.—Section 5(e) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

23 501(e)) is amended— 

24 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Any 

25 complaint’’ and all that follows through ‘‘is 


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1 about to occur’’ and inserting the following: 

2 ‘‘Any complaint that a violation of any provi3 sion of law or any rule or regulation of the 

4 House of Representatives to which subsection 

5 (d) applies is about to occur’’; and 

6 (B) in the sentence beginning with ‘‘Not7 withstanding any other provision of law’’, by 

8 striking ‘‘a violation of the franking laws or an 

9 abuse of the franking privilege by any person 

10 listed under subsection (d) of this section as en11 titled to send mail as franked mail,’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘a violation of any provision of law or any 

13 rule or regulation of the House of Representa14 tives to which subsection (d) applies,’’. 

15 (3) MASS COMMUNICATION DEFINED.—Section 

16 5 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 501) is amended by adding 

17 at the end the following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(h) In this section, the term ‘mass communication’ 

19 means a mass mailing described in section 3210(a)(6)(E) 

20 of title 39, United States Code, or any other unsolicited 

21 communication of substantially identical content which is 

22 transmitted to 500 or more persons in a session of Con23 gress, as provided under regulations of the Commission, 

24 except that such term does not include— 


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1 ‘‘(1) any communication from an individual de2 scribed in subsection (d) to another individual de3 scribed in subsection (d), a Senator, or any Federal, 

4 State, local, or Tribal government official; 

5 ‘‘(2) any news release to the communications 

6 media; 

7 ‘‘(3) any such mass mailing or unsolicited com8 munication made in direct response to a communica9 tion from a person to whom the mass mailing or un10 solicited communication was transmitted; or 

11 ‘‘(4) in the case of any such unsolicited commu12 nication which is transmitted in a digital format, a 

13 communication for which the cost of the content is 

14 less than a threshold amount established under reg15 ulations of the House Communications Standards 

16 Commission.’’. 

17 (b) AUTHORITY TO REVIEW ALL UNSOLICITED MASS

18 COMMUNICATIONS.— 

19 (1) REQUIRING REVIEW BEFORE DISSEMINA20 TION.—Section 311(f) of the Legislative Branch Ap21 propriations Act, 1991 (2 U.S.C. 503(f)) is amend22 ed— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘any mass mailing’’ and in24 serting ‘‘any mass communication’’; 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘mail matter’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘matter’’; and 

3 (C) by striking ‘‘such proposed mailing’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘such proposed communication’’. 

5 (2) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN COMMUNICA6 TIONS.—Section 311(f) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

7 503(f)) is amended— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘A Member’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 

10 Member’’; and 

11 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply in the case of any 

14 type of mass communication which is designated as ex15 empt from the requirements of such paragraph as pro16 vided under regulations of the House Communications 

17 Standards Commission.’’. 

18 (3) DEFINITION.—Section 311(g) of such Act 

19 (2 U.S.C. 503(g)) is amended— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para21 graph (1); 

22 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

23 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

25 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘mass communication’ means a 

2 mass mailing described in section 3210(a)(6)(E) of 

3 title 39, United States Code, or any other unsolic4 ited communication of substantially identical content 

5 which is transmitted to 500 or more persons in a 

6 session of Congress, as provided under regulations of 

7 the House Communications Standards Commission, 

8 except that such term does not include— 

9 ‘‘(A) any communication from a Member 

10 of the House of Representatives to another 

11 Member of the House of Representatives, a 

12 Senator, or any Federal, State, or local govern13 ment official; 

14 ‘‘(B) any news release to the communica15 tions media; 

16 ‘‘(C) any such mass mailing or unsolicited 

17 communication made in direct response to a 

18 communication from a person to whom the 

19 mass mailing or unsolicited communication was 

20 transmitted; or 

21 ‘‘(D) in the case of any such unsolicited 

22 communication which is transmitted in a digital 

23 format, a communication for which the cost of 

24 the content is less than a threshold amount esVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512

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1 tablished under regulations of the House Com2 munications Standards Commission.’’. 

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO RULES OF THE

4 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—Clause 9 of rule XXIV 

5 of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended 

6 by inserting after ‘‘that session,’’ the following: ‘‘or any 

7 other unsolicited communication of substantially identical 

8 content which is transmitted to 500 or more persons in 

9 that session or, in the case of a digital communication of 

10 substantially identical content, which is disseminated at 

11 a cost exceeding a designated amount, as provided under 

12 regulations of the House Communications Standards 

13 Commission,’’. 

14 SEC. 4. REVISION TO MASS MAILING NOTICE ON TAXPAYER 

15 FUNDING. 

16 Section 311(a) of the Legislative Branch Appropria17 tions Act, 1997 (2 U.S.C. 506(a)) is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘(a) Each mass mailing’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘(a)(1) Each mass mailing’’; 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘the following notice:’’ and all 

21 that follows through ‘‘or a notice’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘one of the notices described in paragraph (2) or a 

23 notice’’; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

25 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(2) The notices described in this paragraph are as 

2 follows: 

3 ‘‘(A) ‘Paid for with official funds from the of4 fice of lllll.’, with the blank filled in with 

5 the name of the Member sending the mailing. 

6 ‘‘(B) ‘Paid for by the funds authorized by the 

7 House of Representatives for District ll of 

8 lllll.’, with the first blank filled in with the 

9 name of the congressional district number, and the 

10 second blank filled in with the name of the State, of 

11 the Member sending the mailing. 

12 ‘‘(C) ‘Paid for by official funds authorized by 

13 the House of Representatives.’ ’’. 

14 SEC. 5. REVISIONS TO RESTRICTIONS ON MAIL MATTER 

15 CONSIDERED FRANKABLE. 

16 (a) EXPRESSIONS OF CONGRATULATIONS.—Section 

17 3210(a)(3)(F) of title 39, United States Code, is amended 

18 by striking ‘‘to a person who has achieved some public 

19 distinction’’. 

20 (b) BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION RELATED TO OF21 FICIAL AND REPRESENTATIONAL DUTIES.—Section 

22 3210(a)(3)(I) of such title is amended by striking ‘‘publi23 cation or in response to a specific request therefor’’ and 

24 inserting the following: ‘‘publication, in response to a speVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512

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1 cific request therefor, or which relates to the Member’s 

2 or Member-elect’s official and representational duties,’’. 

3 (c) PHOTOS AND LIKENESSES INCLUDED IN NEWS4 LETTERS OR GENERAL MASS MAILINGS.—Section 

5 3210(a)(3) of such title is amended— 

6 (1) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

7 (H); 

8 (2) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and 

9 inserting a period; and 

10 (3) by striking subparagraph (J). 

11 (d) CLARIFICATION OF ABILITY OF MEMBERS TO

12 USE FRANKED MAIL TO SEND PERSONAL MESSAGES TO

13 CONSTITUENTS.—Section 3210(a)(4) of such title is 

14 amended by striking the period at the end and inserting 

15 the following: ‘‘, except that nothing in this paragraph 

16 may be construed to prohibit the use of the franking privi17 lege for the transmission of matter which is purely per18 sonal to a recipient who is a constituent of a Member of 

19 Congress and which is related to the official business, ac20 tivities, and duties of the Member.’’. 

21 (e) HOLIDAY CARDS.—Section 3210(a)(5)(B)(iii) of 

22 such title is amended by striking ‘‘holiday greetings’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘religious holiday greetings’’. 

24 (f) UNIFORM BLACKOUT PERIOD FOR ALL MEMBERS

25 OF CONGRESS.— 


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1 (1) UNIFORM PERIOD.—Section 3210(a)(6)(A) 

2 of such title is amended— 

3 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘(or, in the 

4 case of a Member of the House, fewer than 90 

5 days)’’; and 

6 (B) in clause (ii)(II), by striking ‘‘90 

7 days’’ and inserting ‘‘60 days’’. 

8 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

9 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to the reg10 ularly scheduled general election for Federal office 

11 held in November 2020 and each succeeding election 

12 for public office. 

13 (g) NONAPPLICATION OF BLACKOUT PERIOD TO

14 PARTY NOMINATING CONVENTIONS OR CAUCUSES.—Sec15 tion 3210(a)(6) of such title is amended by adding at the 

16 end the following new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(G) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘pri18 mary election’ does not include a convention or caucus of 

19 a political party which has authority to nominate a can20 didate.’’. 

21 (h) INFORMATION ON CERTAIN MATTERS.—Section 

22 3210(a)(6)(E) of such title is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (ii); 

24 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 

25 (iii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

2 clause: 

3 ‘‘(iv) providing information exclusively on com4 petitions which are officially sanctioned by the 

5 House of Representatives or Senate, nominations to 

6 military service academies, official employment list7 ings for positions in the House of Representatives 

8 (including listings for positions in the Wounded 

9 Warrior Program or the Gold Star Family Fellow10 ship Program), or natural disasters or other threats 

11 to public health and life safety.’’. 

12 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

13 Except as provided in section 5(f)(2), this Act and 

14 the amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect 

15 to communications disseminated on or after the date of 

16 the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 30, 2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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