I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1439 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2007 

Mr. FOSSELLA (for himself, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SPRATT, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. 

PETRI, Mr. WALSH of New York, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, and Mr. KING

of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

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. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in con4 sultation with the United States Postal Service, shall pro5 vide for a program under which postal benefits shall be 

6 provided to qualified individuals in accordance with suc7 ceeding provisions of this Act. 

8 (b) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 

9 Act, the term ‘‘qualified individual’’ means an individual 

10 who is— 

11 (1) a member of the Armed Forces of the 

12 United States on active duty (as defined in section 

13 101 of title 10, United States Code); and 

14 (2)(A) serving in Iraq or Afghanistan; or 

15 (B) hospitalized at a facility under the jurisdic16 tion of the Armed Forces of the United States as a 

17 result of a disease or injury incurred as a result of 

18 service in Iraq or Afghanistan. 

19 (c) POSTAL BENEFITS DESCRIBED.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The postal benefits provided 

21 under this Act shall consist of such coupons or other 

22 similar evidence of credit (whether in printed, elec23 tronic, or other format, and hereinafter in this Act 

24 referred to as ‘‘vouchers’’) as the Secretary of De25 fense (in consultation with the Postal Service) shall 


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1 determine, entitling the bearer or user to make 

2 qualified mailings free of postage. 

3 (2) QUALIFIED MAILING.—For purposes of this 

4 Act, the term ‘‘qualified mailing’’ means the mailing 

5 of a single mail piece which— 

6 (A) is described in subparagraph (A) or 

7 (B) of paragraph (3); 

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

9 a United States post office; and 

10 (C) is addressed to a qualified individual. 

11 (3) MAIL DESCRIBED.—Mail described in this 

12 paragraph is— 

13 (A) any first-class mail (including any 

14 sound- or video-recorded communication) not 

15 exceeding 13 ounces in weight and having the 

16 character of personal correspondence; and 

17 (B) parcel post not exceeding 15 pounds in 

18 weight. 

19 (4) LIMITATIONS.— 

20 (A) NUMBER.—An individual shall be eligi21 ble for 1 voucher for each month in which such 

22 individual is a qualified individual. 

23 (B) USE.—Any such voucher may not be 

24 used— 


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1 (i) for more than a single qualified 

2 mailing; or 

3 (ii) after the earlier of— 

4 (I) the expiration date of such 

5 voucher, as designated by the Sec6 retary of Defense; or 

7 (II) the last day of the 1-year pe8 riod referred to in section 4. 

9 (5) COORDINATION RULE.—Postal benefits 

10 under this Act shall be in addition to, and not in lieu 

11 of, any reduced rates of postage or other similar 

12 benefits which might otherwise be available by or 

13 under law, including any rates of postage resulting 

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

15 United States Code. 

16 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 30 days after the 

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

18 (in consultation with the Postal Service) shall prescribe 

19 any regulations necessary to carry out this Act, includ20 ing— 

21 (1) procedures by which vouchers will be pro22 vided or made available in timely manner to persons 

23 duly identified by qualified individuals to receive 

24 those vouchers; and 


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1 (2) procedures to ensure that the number of 

2 vouchers provided or made available with respect to 

3 any qualified individual complies with subsection 

4 (c)(4)(A). 

5 SEC. 3. FUNDING. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro7 priated to the Department of Defense a sum determined 

8 by the Department of Defense to be equal to the expenses 

9 incurred by the Department in providing the benefits de10 scribed in section 2(c). 

11 (b) TRANSFERS TO POSTAL SERVICE.— 

12 (1) BASED ON ESTIMATES.—The Department 

13 of Defense shall transfer to the Postal Service, out 

14 of any amount so appropriated and in advance of 

15 each calendar quarter during which postal benefits 

16 under this Act may be used, an amount equal to the 

17 amount of postal benefits that the Department of 

18 Defense estimates will be used during such quarter, 

19 reduced or increased (as the case may be) by any 

20 amounts by which the Department finds that a de21 termination under this section for a prior quarter 

22 was greater than or less than the amount finally de23 termined for such quarter. 

24 (2) BASED ON FINAL DETERMINATION.—A 

25 final determination of the amount necessary to corVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:05 Mar 10, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1439.IH H1439

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1 rect any previous determination under this section, 

2 and any transfer of amounts between the Postal 

3 Service and the Department of Defense based on 

4 that final determination, shall be made not later 

5 than 6 months after the end of the 1-year period re6 ferred to in section 4. 

7 (c) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—All estimates and 

8 determinations under this section of the amount of postal 

9 benefits under this Act used in any period shall be made 

10 by the Department of Defense in consultation with the 

11 Postal Service. 

12 SEC. 4. DURATION. 

13 The postal benefits under this Act shall apply with 

14 respect to mail matter sent during the 1-year period begin15 ning on the date on which the regulations under section 

16 2(d) take effect. 

Æ 


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