
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document affected by Public Law 106-253 Section 3(a)]
[Document affected by Public Law 107-67 Section 650(b)(1)]
[Document affected by Public Law 107-67 Section 650(c)]
[Document affected by Public Law 106-253 Section 3(b)]
[Document affected by Public Law 107-67 Section 650(b)(2)]
[CITE: 39USC414]

 
                        TITLE 39--POSTAL SERVICE
 
                             PART I--GENERAL
 
                      CHAPTER 4--GENERAL AUTHORITY
 
Sec. 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 Governors 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
        (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 Department 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 rendered 
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.

(Added Pub. L. 105-41, Sec. 2(a), Aug. 13, 1997, 111 Stat. 1119.)

                       References in Text

    The date of the enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. 
(e), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 105-41, which was approved Aug. 
13, 1997.


             Report by Comptroller General of United States

    Section 2(b) of Pub. L. 105-41 provided that: ``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 appropriateness 
    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.''
