39 USC 3216 – Reimbursement for franked mailings
(a) The equivalent of—
(1) postage on, and fees and charges in connection with, mail matter sent through the mails—
(A) under the franking privilege (other than under section 3219 of this title), by the Vice President, Members of and Members-elect to Congress, the Secretary of the Senate, the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, each of the elected officers of the House of Representatives (other than a Member of the House), the Legislative Counsels of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives, and the Senate Legal Counsel; and
(B) by the survivors of a Member of Congress under section 3218 of this title; and
(2) those portions of fees and charges to be paid for handling and delivery by the Postal Service of Mailgrams considered as franked mail under section 3219 of this title;
shall be paid by appropriations for the official mail costs of the Senate and the House of Representatives for that purpose and then paid to the Postal Service as postal revenue. Except as to Mailgrams and except as provided by sections 733 and 907 of title 44, envelopes, wrappers, cards, or labels used to transmit franked mail shall bear, in the upper right-hand corner, the sender’s signature, or a facsimile thereof.
Terms Used In 39 USC 3216
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- frank: means the autographic or facsimile signature of persons authorized by sections 3210-3216 and 3218 of this title to transmit matter through the mail without prepayment of postage or other indicia contemplated by sections 733 and 907 of title 44. See 39 USC 3201
- franked mail: means mail which is transmitted in the mail under a frank. See 39 USC 3201
- officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
- Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
- Postal Service: means the United States Postal Service established by section 201 of this title. See 39 USC 102
(b) Postage on, and fees and charges in connection with, mail matter sent through the mails under section 3214 of this title shall be paid each fiscal year, out of any appropriation made for that purpose, to the Postal Service as postal revenue in an amount equivalent to the postage, fees, and charges which would otherwise be payable on, or in connection with, such mail matter.
(c) Payment under subsection (a) or (b) of this section shall be deemed payment for all matter mailed under the frank and for all fees and charges due the Postal Service in connection therewith.
(d) Money collected for matter improperly mailed under the franking privilege shall be deposited as miscellaneous receipts in the general fund of the Treasury.
(e)(1) Not later than two weeks after the last day of each quarter of the fiscal year, or as soon as practicable thereafter, the Postmaster General shall send to the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, the House Communications Standards Commission, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration a report which shall contain a tabulation of the estimated number of pieces and costs of franked mail, as defined in section 3201 of this title, in each mail classification sent through the mail for that quarter and for the preceding quarters in the fiscal year, together with separate tabulations of the number of pieces and costs of such mail sent by the House and by the Senate.
(2) Two weeks after the close of the second quarter of the fiscal year, or as soon as practicable thereafter, the Postmaster General shall send to the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, the House Communications Standards Commission, the Committee on House Oversight, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, a statement of the costs of postage on, and fees and charges in connection with, mail matter sent through the mails as described in paragraph (1) of this subsection for the preceding two quarters together with an estimate of such costs for the balance of the fiscal year. As soon as practicable after receipt of this statement, the House Communications Standards Commission, the Committee on House Oversight, and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration shall consider promulgating such regulations for their respective Houses as may be necessary to ensure that total postage costs, as described in paragraph (1) of this subsection, will not exceed the amounts available for the fiscal year.