I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2543
To amend title 39, United States Code, to direct the Postal Service to
adhere to an equitable tender policy in selecting air carriers of non-
priority bypass mail to certain points in the State of Alaska, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 18, 2001
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Government Reform
A BILL
To amend title 39, United States Code, to direct the Postal
Service to adhere to an equitable tender policy in select-
ing air carriers of non-priority bypass mail to certain
points in the State of Alaska, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SELECTION OF CARRIERS OF NON-PRIORITY
BYPASS 
MAIL 
TO 
CERTAIN 
POINTS 
IN
ALASKA.
(a) 
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
SELECTION.—Section
5402(g)(1) of title 39, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)
by inserting after ‘‘in the State of Alaska,’’ the fol-
lowing: ‘‘shall adhere to an equitable tender policy
among the carriers and’’; and
(2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting
the following:
‘‘(B) operate at least 1, 2, or 3 (as determined
by the Postal Service based on its needs) scheduled
flights each week to such point;’’.
(b) DETERMINATION OF RATES.—Section 5402(g)(2)
of such title is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (A);
(2) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(C) may offer equitable tender of non-priority
bypass mail at mainline service rates to a bush car-
rier providing service within the State of Alaska
from a hub point to a bush point if the bush point
is also being served by a mainline carrier.’’.
(c) SELECTION OF CARRIERS TO HUB POINTS.—Sec-
tion 5402(g) of such title is amended by adding at the
end the following:
‘‘(4)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the
Postal Service shall select only existing mainline carriers
to provide non-priority bypass mail service to hub points
in the State of Alaska.
‘‘(B) The Postal Service may select a carrier other
than an existing mainline carrier to provide non-priority
bypass mail service to a hub point in the State of Alaska
if—
‘‘(i) the Postal Service determines (in accord-
ance with criteria established in advance by the
Postal Service) that service to the hub point is defi-
cient and provides written notice of the determina-
tion to existing mainline carriers to the hub point;
and
‘‘(ii) after the 30-day period following issuance
of notice under clause (i), the Postal Service deter-
mines that deficiencies in service to the hub point
have not been cured.’’.
(d) DEFINITIONS.—Section 5402(g) of such title is
further amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(5) In this subsection—
‘‘(A) the term ‘equitable tender’ means the
practice of the Postal Service of equitably distrib-
uting mail on a fair and reasonable basis between
those air carriers that offer equivalent services be-
tween 2 communities in terms of the requirements
of the Postal Service;
‘‘(B) the term ‘existing mainline carrier’ means
a mainline carrier that meets the requirements of
paragraph (1) and was actually providing mainline
non-priority bypass mail service within the State of
Alaska as of January 1, 2001; and
‘‘(C) the term ‘scheduled service’ means service
published in the Official Airline Guide or the air
cargo equivalent thereof.’’.
Æ