I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 707 
To provide monthly vouchers to members of the Armed Forces serving in 
overseas operations, or hospitalized due to a disease or injury incurred 
as a result of service in such operations, that a member may transfer 
to another person to permit the person to mail, without charge, cor-
respondence and small parcels to members of the Armed Forces. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 27, 2009 
Ms. CASTOR of Florida (for herself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BARROW, Mr. 
BILIRAKIS, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mrs. BONO MACK, Mr. BOOZMAN, 
Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. BOSWELL, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Ms. 
GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. BURTON of Indi-
ana, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CARTER, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. CHILDERS, 
Ms. CLARKE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. 
CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. ED-
WARDS of Texas, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FOSTER, 
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. GONZALEZ, 
Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. 
HINCHEY, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. JACK-
SON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KAGEN, Mr. KEN-
NEDY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KIND, Ms. KIRKPATRICK of Arizona, Mr. 
KISSELL, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Ms. KOSMAS, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 
LATOURETTE, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LUJAN, Mr. MASSA, Ms. MAT-
SUI, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCMAHON, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Ms. 
MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, 
Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. PETRI, Mr. PIERLUISI, 
Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. ROSS, Mr. 
ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. 
SABLAN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. 
TANNER, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. TERRY, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, 
Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. TONKO, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. DOYLE, 
Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. MINNICK, 
Mr. TAYLOR, Mr. BOCCIERI, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. SCHAUER, Mr. 
HALL of New York, Mr. BERRY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. 
HINOJOSA, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. CARNAHAN, and Mr. ARCURI) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Armed Services 
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A BILL 
To provide monthly vouchers to members of the Armed 
Forces serving in overseas operations, or hospitalized 
due to a disease or injury incurred as a result of service 
in such operations, that a member may transfer to an-
other person to permit the person to mail, without 
charge, correspondence and small parcels to members 
of the Armed Forces. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Home Front to Heroes 
Postal Benefits Act’’. 
SEC. 2. POSTAL BENEFITS PROGRAM FOR SENDING FREE 
MAIL TO MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES 
SERVING 
IN 
CERTAIN 
OVERSEAS 
OPER-
ATIONS AND HOSPITALIZED MEMBERS. 
(a) AVAILABILITY OF POSTAL BENEFITS.—The Sec-
retary of Defense, in consultation with the United States 
Postal Service, shall provide for a program under which 
postal benefits are provided during fiscal year 2010 to 
qualified individuals in accordance with this section. 
(b) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—In this section, the 
term ‘‘qualified individual’’ means a member of the Armed 
Forces described in subsection (a)(1) of section 3401 of 
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title 39, United States Code, who is entitled to free mail-
ing privileges under such section. 
(c) POSTAL BENEFITS DESCRIBED.— 
(1) VOUCHERS.—The postal benefits provided 
under the program shall consist of such coupons or 
other similar evidence of credit (in this section re-
ferred to as a ‘‘voucher’’) to permit a person pos-
sessing the voucher to make a qualified mailing to 
any qualified individual without charge using the 
Postal Service. The vouchers may be in printed, elec-
tronic, or such other format as the Secretary of De-
fense, in consultation with the Postal Service, shall 
determine to be appropriate. 
(2) QUALIFIED MAILING.—In this section, the 
term ‘‘qualified mailing’’ means the mailing of a sin-
gle mail piece which— 
(A) is first-class mail (including any 
sound- or video-recorded communication) not 
exceeding 13 ounces in weight and having the 
character of personal correspondence or parcel 
post not exceeding 15 pounds in weight; 
(B) is sent from within an area served by 
a United States post office; and 
(C) is addressed to any qualified indi-
vidual. 
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(3) 
COORDINATION
RULE.—Postal 
benefits 
under the program are in addition to, and not in lieu 
of, any reduced rates of postage or other similar 
benefits which might otherwise be available by or 
under law, including any rates of postage resulting 
from the application of section 3401(b) of title 39, 
United States Code. 
(d) NUMBER
OF VOUCHERS.—A member of the 
Armed Forces shall be eligible for one voucher for every 
month (or part of a month) during fiscal year 2010 in 
which the member is a qualified individual. Subject to sub-
section (f)(2), a voucher earned during fiscal year 2010 
may be used after the end of such fiscal year. 
(e) TRANSFER
OF VOUCHERS.—A qualified indi-
vidual may transfer a voucher to a member of the family 
of the qualified individual, a nonprofit organization, or any 
other person selected by the qualified individual for use 
to send qualified mailings to the qualified individual or 
other qualified individuals. 
(f) LIMITATIONS ON USE; DURATION.—A voucher 
may not be used— 
(1) for more than one qualified mailing, wheth-
er that mailing is a first-class letter or a parcel; or 
(2) after the expiration date of the voucher, as 
designated by the Secretary of Defense. 
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(g) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 
(in consultation with the Postal Service) shall prescribe 
such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the pro-
gram, including— 
(1) procedures by which vouchers will be pro-
vided or made available in timely manner to quali-
fied individuals; and 
(2) procedures to ensure that the number of 
vouchers provided or made available with respect to 
any qualified individual complies with subsection (d). 
(h) TRANSFERS OF FUNDS TO POSTAL SERVICE.— 
(1) BASED ON ESTIMATES.—The Secretary of 
Defense shall transfer to the Postal Service, out of 
amounts available to carry out the program and in 
advance of each calendar quarter during which post-
al benefits may be used under the program, an 
amount equal to the amount of postal benefits that 
the Secretary estimates will be used during such 
quarter, reduced or increased (as the case may be) 
by any amounts by which the Secretary finds that 
a determination under this subsection for a prior 
quarter was greater than or less than the amount fi-
nally determined for such quarter. 
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(2) BASED
ON
FINAL
DETERMINATION.—A 
final determination of the amount necessary to cor-
rect any previous determination under this section, 
and any transfer of amounts between the Postal 
Service and the Department of Defense based on 
that final determination, shall be made not later 
than six months after the expiration date of the final 
vouchers issued under the program. 
(3) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—All estimates 
and determinations under this subsection of the 
amount of postal benefits under the program used in 
any period shall be made by the Secretary of De-
fense in consultation with the Postal Service. 
Æ 
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