II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1444 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2007 

Mrs. CLINTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

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 ‘‘Supply Our Soldiers 

5 Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. POSTAL BENEFITS PROGRAM FOR MEMBERS OF 

2 THE ARMED FORCES SERVING IN IRAQ OR 

3 AFGHANISTAN. 

4 (a) AVAILABILITY OF POSTAL BENEFITS.—The Sec5 retary of Defense, in consultation with the United States 

6 Postal Service, shall provide for a program under which 

7 postal benefits are provided to qualified individuals in ac8 cordance with this section. 

9 (b) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—In this section, the 

10 term ‘‘qualified individual’’ means a member of the Armed 

11 Forces on active duty (as defined in section 101 of title 

12 10, United States Code) who— 

13 (1) is serving in Iraq or Afghanistan; or 

14 (2) is hospitalized at a facility under the juris15 diction of the Department of Defense as a result of 

16 a disease or injury incurred as a result of service in 

17 Iraq or Afghanistan. 

18 (c) POSTAL BENEFITS DESCRIBED.— 

19 (1) VOUCHERS.—The postal benefits provided 

20 under the program shall consist of such coupons or 

21 other similar evidence of credit, whether in printed, 

22 electronic, or other format (in this section referred 

23 to as a ‘‘voucher’’), as the Secretary of Defense, in 

24 consultation with the Postal Service, shall determine, 

25 which entitle the bearer or user to make qualified 

26 mailings free of postage. 


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1 (2) QUALIFIED MAILING.—In this section, the 

2 term ‘‘qualified mailing’’ means the mailing of a sin3 gle mail piece which— 

4 (A) is first-class mail (including any 

5 sound-recorded or video-recorded communica6 tion) not exceeding 13 ounces in weight and 

7 having the character of personal correspondence 

8 or parcel post not exceeding 10 pounds in 

9 weight; 

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

11 a United States post office; and 

12 (C) is addressed to a qualified individual. 

13 (3) COORDINATION RULE.—Postal benefits 

14 under the program are in addition to, and not in lieu 

15 of, any reduced rates of postage or other similar 

16 benefits which might otherwise be available by or 

17 under law, including any rates of postage resulting 

18 from the application of section 3401(b) of title 39, 

19 United States Code. 

20 (d) NUMBER OF VOUCHERS.—A member of the 

21 Armed Forces shall be eligible for one voucher for every 

22 second month in which the member is a qualified indi23 vidual. 

24 (e) LIMITATIONS ON USE; DURATION.—A voucher 

25 may not be used— 


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1 (1) for more than a single qualified mailing; or 

2 (2) after the earlier of— 

3 (A) the expiration date of the voucher, as 

4 designated by the Secretary of Defense; or 

5 (B) the end of the one-year period begin6 ning on the date on which the regulations pre7 scribed under subsection (f) take effect. 

8 (f) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 30 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

10 (in consultation with the Postal Service) shall prescribe 

11 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the pro12 gram, including— 

13 (1) procedures by which vouchers will be pro14 vided or made available in timely manner to quali15 fied individuals; and 

16 (2) procedures to ensure that the number of 

17 vouchers provided or made available with respect to 

18 any qualified individual complies with subsection (d). 

19 (g) TRANSFERS TO POSTAL SERVICE.— 

20 (1) BASED ON ESTIMATES.—The Secretary of 

21 Defense shall transfer to the Postal Service, out of 

22 amounts available to carry out the program and in 

23 advance of each calendar quarter during which post24 al benefits may be used under the program, an 

25 amount equal to the amount of postal benefits that 


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1 the Secretary estimates will be used during such 

2 quarter, reduced or increased (as the case may be) 

3 by any amounts by which the Secretary finds that 

4 a determination under this section for a prior quar5 ter was greater than or less than the amount finally 

6 determined for such quarter. 

7 (2) BASED ON FINAL DETERMINATION.—A 

8 final determination of the amount necessary to cor9 rect any previous determination under this section, 

10 and any transfer of amounts between the Postal 

11 Service and the Department of Defense based on 

12 that final determination, shall be made not later 

13 than six months after the end of the one-year period 

14 referred to in subsection (e)(2)(B). 

15 (3) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—All estimates 

16 and determinations under this subsection of the 

17 amount of postal benefits under the program used in 

18 any period shall be made by the Secretary of De19 fense in consultation with the Postal Service. 

20 (h) FUNDING.—Of the amounts authorized to be ap21 propriated for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 

22 2008 for military personnel, $10,000,000 shall be for post23 al benefits provided in this section. 

Æ 


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