I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3773

To prevent Members of the House of Representatives from making mass

mailings during an election year, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 10, 1996

Mr. CASTLE (for himself, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BLUTE, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GOSS, Ms. GREENE of Utah, Mr. JACOBS, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr.

MCHALE, Mr. PARKER, Mr. POSHARD, and Mr. SHAYS) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Oversight,

and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight,

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the

committee concerned

A BILL

To prevent Members of the House of Representatives from

making mass mailings during an election year, 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. RESTRICTION ON MASS MAILINGS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3210(a) of title 39, Unit5 ed States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing:
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1 ‘‘(8)(A) Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph

2 (6), a Member of, or Member-elect to, the House of Rep3 resentatives may not mail any mass mailing as franked

4 mailing if it would be postmarked during any session that

5 begins in an even-numbered calendar year before the

6 Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November of such

7 year.

8 ‘‘(B) Nothing in subparagraph (A) shall preclude the

9 mailing of—

10 ‘‘(i) any mail matter which is part of a mass

11 mailing described in paragraph (6)(B);

12 ‘‘(ii) a town meeting notice, if it is made more

13 than 90 days before the date of any primary election

14 or general election (whether regular, special, or run15 off) for any Federal, State, or local office in which

16 such Member is a candidate for election; or

17 ‘‘(iii) any mail matter which relates to an emer18 gency or disaster declared by the President, if—

19 ‘‘(I) the mailing is sent within 60 days

20 after the emergency or disaster is declared;

21 ‘‘(II) the recipients of the mailing are lo22 cated in a congressional district any portion of

23 which is within (or adjacent to) an area in24 cluded in the President’s declaration; and
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1 ‘‘(III) the mailing relates solely to the

2 emergency or disaster.

3 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘town

4 meeting notice’ means any mailing which—

5 ‘‘(i) relates solely to a notice of the time

6 and place at which a Member of the House of

7 Representatives or 1 or more members of the

8 Member’s staff will be available to meet con9 stituents regarding legislative issues or prob10 lems with Federal programs;

‘‘(ii) appears on a mailing 51 11 ⁄2′′ x 8′′ or

12 smaller;

13 ‘‘(iii) includes not more than 3 references

14 to the Member (excluding any reference appear15 ing as the frank, consisting of the signature

16 and name at the end of the mailing, or other17 wise specified in regulations of the House Com18 mission on Congressional Mailing Standards);

19 and

20 ‘‘(iv) does not include any picture, sketch,

21 or other likeness of the Member.’’.

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

23 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to even-numbered
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1 calendar years beginning after the date of the enactment

2 of this Act.

Æ