II
Calendar No. 418
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 170
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
NOVEMBER 3, 1999
Received
NOVEMBER 19, 1999
Read twice and placed on the calendar
AN ACT
To require certain notices in any mailing using a game
of chance for the promotion of a product or service,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
HR 170 PCS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Deceptive Mail Preven-
tion and Enforcement Act’’.
SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON MAILINGS USING MISLEADING
REFERENCES TO THE UNITED STATES GOV-
ERNMENT.
Section 3001 of title 39, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in subsection (h)—
(A) in the first sentence by striking ‘‘con-
tains a seal, insignia, trade or brand name, or
any other term or symbol that reasonably could
be interpreted or construed as implying any
Federal Government connection, approval or en-
dorsement’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘which
reasonably could be interpreted or construed as
implying any Federal Government connection,
approval, or endorsement through the use of a
seal, insignia, reference to the Postmaster Gen-
eral, citation to a Federal statute, name of a
Federal agency, department, commission, or
program, trade or brand name, or any other
term or symbol; or contains any reference to
the Postmaster General or a citation to a Fed-
eral statute that misrepresents either the iden-
tity of the mailer or the protection or status af-
HR 170 PCS
forded such matter by the Federal Govern-
ment’’; and
(B) in paragraph (2)—
(i) in subparagraph (A) by striking
‘‘and’’ at the end;
(ii) in subparagraph (B) by striking
‘‘or’’ at the end and inserting ‘‘and’’; and
(iii) by inserting after subparagraph
(B) the following:
‘‘(C) such matter does not contain a false
representation stating or implying that Federal
Government benefits or services will be affected
by any purchase or nonpurchase; or’’;
(2) in subsection (i) in the first sentence—
(A) in the first sentence by striking ‘‘con-
tains a seal, insignia, trade or brand name, or
any other term or symbol that reasonably could
be interpreted or construed as implying any
Federal Government connection, approval or en-
dorsement’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘which
reasonably could be interpreted or construed as
implying any Federal Government connection,
approval, or endorsement through the use of a
seal, insignia, reference to the Postmaster Gen-
eral, citation to a Federal statute, name of a
HR 170 PCS
Federal agency, department, commission, or
program, trade or brand name, or any other
term or symbol; or contains any reference to
the Postmaster General or a citation to a Fed-
eral statute that misrepresents either the iden-
tity of the mailer or the protection or status af-
forded such matter by the Federal Govern-
ment’’; and
(B) in paragraph (2)—
(i) in subparagraph (A) by striking
‘‘and’’ at the end;
(ii) in subparagraph (B) by striking
‘‘or’’ at the end and inserting ‘‘and’’; and
(iii) by inserting after subparagraph
(B) the following:
‘‘(C) such matter does not contain a false
representation stating or implying that Federal
Government benefits or services will be affected
by any contribution or noncontribution; or’’;
(3) by redesignating subsections (j) and (k) as
subsections (m) and (n), respectively; and
(4) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(j)(1) Any matter otherwise legally acceptable in the
mails which is described in paragraph (2) is nonmailable