Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act
PL 105-41 (H.R.1585), enacted 08/13/1997

PUBLIC LAW 105-41—AUG. 13, 1997 
111 STAT. 1119 
Public Law 105-41 
105th Congress 
An Act 
To allow postal patrons to contribute to funding for breast cancer research through 
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the voluntary purchase of certain specially issued United States postage stamps, 
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39 u s e 101 note. 
and for other purposes. 
[H.R. 1585] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
Stamp Out 
Breast Cancer 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
Apt 
This Act may be cited as the "Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act". 
SEC. 2. SPECIAL POSTAGE STAMPS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 4 of title 39, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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*
§ 414. Special postage stamps 
"(a) In order to afford the public a convenient way to contribute 
to funding for breast cancer research, the Postal Service shall 
establish a special rate of postage for first-class mail under this 
section. 
"(b) The rate of postage established under this section— 
"(1) shall be equal to the regular first-class rate of postage, 
plus a differential of not to exceed 25 percent; 
"(2) shall be set by the Governors in accordance with such 
procedures as the Grovemors shall by regulation prescribe (in 
lieu of the procedures under chapter 36); and 
"(3) shall be offered as an alternative to the regular first-
class rate of postage. 
The use of the special rate of postage established under this section 
shall be voluntary on the part of postal patrons. 
"(c)(1) Of the amounts becoming available for breast cancer 
research pursuant to this section, the Postal Service shall pay— 
"(A) 70 percent to the National Institutes of Health; and 
"(B) the remainder to the Department of Defense. 
Payments under this paragraph to an agency shall be made under 
such arrangements as the Postal Service shall by mutual agreement 
with such agency establish in order to carry out the purposes 
of this section, except that, under those arrangements, payments 
to such agency shall be made at least twice a year. 
"(2) For purposes of this section, the term 'amounts becoming 
available for breast cancer research pursuant to this section' 
means— 
"(A) the total amounts received by the Postal Service that 
it would not have received but for the enactment of this section, 
reduced by 
I l l STAT. 1120 
PUBLIC LAW 105-41—AUG. 13, 1997 
Regulations. 
Reports. 
Termination 
date. 
39 u s e 404 note. 
"(B) an amount sufficient to cover reasonable costs incurred 
by the Postal Service in carrying out this section, including 
those attributable to the printing, sale, and distribution of 
stamps under this section, 
as determined by the Postal Service under regulations that it shall 
prescribe. 
"(d) It is the sense of the Congress that nothing in this section 
should— 
"(1) directly or indirectly cause a net decrease in total 
funds received by the National Institutes of Health, the Depart-
ment of Defense, or any other agency of the Government (or 
any component or program thereof) below the level that would 
otherwise have been received but for the enactment of this 
section; or 
"(2) affect regular first-class rates of postage or any other 
regular rates of postage. 
"(e) Special postage stamps under this section shall be made 
available to the public beginning on such date as the Postal Service 
shall by regulation prescribe, but in no event later than 12 months 
after the date of the enactment of this section. 
"(f) The Postmaster General shall include in each report ren-
dered under section 2402 with respect to any period during any 
portion of which this section is in effect information concerning 
the operation of this section, except that, at a minimum, each 
shall include— 
"(1) the total amount described in subsection (c)(2)(A) which 
was received by the Postal Service during the period covered 
by such report; and 
"(2) of the amount under paragraph (1), how much (in 
the aggregate and by category) was required for the purposes 
described in subsection (c)(2)(B). 
"(g) This section shall cease to be effective at the end of the 
2-year period beginning on the date on which special postage stamps 
under this section are first made available to the public". 
(b) REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED 
STATES.—^No later than 3 months (but no earlier than 6 months) 
before the end of the 2-year period referred to in section 414(g) 
of title 39, United States Code (as amended by subsection (a)), 
the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the 
Congress a report on the operation of such section. Such report 
shall include— 
(1) an evaluation of the effectiveness and the appropriate-
ness of the authority provided by such section as a means 
of fund-raising; and 
(2) a description of the monetary and other resources 
required of the Postal Service in carrying out such section. 
PUBLIC LAW 105-41—AUG. 13, 1997 
111 STAT. 1121 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT,—^The table of sections for chapter 
4 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
"414. Special postage stamps.". 
Approved August 13, 1997. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 1585: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 143 (1997): 
July 22, considered and passed House. 
July 24, considered and passed Senate. 
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 33 (1997): 
Aug. 13, Presidential statement. 
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