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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3393

To amend the provisions of title 39, United States Code, relating to the

franking privilege for Members of Congress, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 27, 1993

Mr. STRICKLAND introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to

the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service and House Administration

A BILL

To amend the provisions of title 39, United States Code,

relating to the franking privilege for Members of Congress, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Deficit Reduction

5 Franking Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. MASS MAILINGS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (6) of section 3210(a)

8 of title 39, United States Code, is amended to read as

9 follows:
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1 ‘‘(6)(A) For the purpose of this section, the term

2 ‘mass mailing’ means, with respect to a session of Con3 gress, any mailing of newsletters or other pieces of mail

4 with substantially identical content (whether such mail is

5 deposited singly or in bulk, or at the same time or dif6 ferent times), totaling more than 500 pieces in that ses7 sion.

8 ‘‘(B) A Member of, or Member-elect to, Congress may

9 not mail any mass mailing as franked mail, unless it—

10 ‘‘(i) is in direct response to a communication

11 from a person to whom the matter is mailed;

12 ‘‘(ii) is a follow-up to a mailing described in

13 clause (i);

14 ‘‘(iii) is sent to other Members of Congress, or

15 to Federal, State, or local government officials;

16 ‘‘(iv) is a news release to the communications

17 media; or

18 ‘‘(v) relates solely to a notice of appearance or

19 a scheduled itinerary of the Member or Member20 elect, and is sent solely to residents of towns or vil21 lages, in the congressional district from which elect22 ed, with populations under 1,000 and without a

23 daily newspaper published within 50 miles, subject

24 to subparagraph (C).
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1 ‘‘(C) Not more than 3 mass mailings of the type de2 scribed in subparagraph (B)(v) may be mailed by a Mem3 ber (including as a Member-elect) during any Congress.

4 ‘‘(D) The Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate

5 and the House Commission on Congressional Mailing

6 Standards shall prescribe rules and regulations for their

7 respective Houses and take such other action as the Com8 mittee or Commission (as the case may be) considers nec9 essary and proper for Members and Members-elect to com10 ply with this paragraph and applicable rules and regula11 tions.

12 ‘‘(E) Any mass mailing which is mailed by the chair13 man of an organization referred to in the last sentence

14 of section 3215 which relates to the normal and regular

15 business of the organization may be mailed without regard

16 to the provisions of this paragraph.’’.

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 320 of the

18 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1991 (2 U.S.C.

19 59g) is amended by striking ‘‘3210(a)(6)(E)’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘3210(a)(6)(A)’’.

21 SEC. 3. VOTER REGISTRATION INFORMATION.

22 Subparagraph (H) of section 3210(a)(3) of title 39,

23 United States Code, is repealed.
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1 SEC. 4. RETURN OF EXCESS AMOUNTS FROM OFFICIAL AL2 LOWANCES OF MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF

3 REPRESENTATIVES TO THE TREASURY FOR

4 DEFICIT REDUCTION.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other law, or

6 any rule or other authority, any amount remaining in an

7 official allowance of a Member of the House of Represent8 atives at the end of the session of Congress or other period

9 for which the allowance is made available shall be returned

10 to the Treasury, to be used for deficit reduction.

11 (b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

12 (1) the term ‘‘Member of the House of Rep13 resentatives’’ means a Representative in, or a Dele14 gate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress;

15 and

16 (2) the term ‘‘official allowance’’ means, with

17 respect to a Member of the House of Representa18 tives, or the Official Mail Allowance.

19 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

20 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

21 take effect as of the beginning of the first Congress begin22 ning after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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