Special postage stamps

39 U.S.C. § 414

• Title: 39 — Postal Service
• Chapter: 4 — GENERAL AUTHORITY

Text

(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 less than 15 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. The special rate of postage of an individual stamp under this section shall be an amount that is evenly divisible by 5.
(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. An agency that receives amounts from the Postal Service under this paragraph shall use the amounts for breast cancer research.
(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) For purposes of section 416 (including any regulation prescribed under subsection (e)(1)(C) of that section), the special postage stamp issued under this section shall not apply to any limitation relating to whether more than 1 semipostal may be offered for sale at the same time.
(h) This section shall cease to be effective after December 31, 2027.

History

(Added Pub. L. 105–41, §2(a), Aug. 13, 1997, 111 Stat. 1119; amended Pub. L. 106–253, §3(a), July 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 636; Pub. L. 107–67, title VI, §650(b)(1), (c), Nov. 12, 2001, 115 Stat. 556, 557; Pub. L. 108–199, div. F, title V, §541, Jan. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 346; Pub. L. 109–100, §1, Nov. 11, 2005, 119 Stat. 2170; Pub. L. 110–150, §1, Dec. 21, 2007, 121 Stat. 1820; Pub. L. 112–80, §1, Dec. 23, 2011, 125 Stat. 1297; Pub. L. 114–99, §§2, 3, Dec. 11, 2015, 129 Stat. 2201; Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title XVII, §1737, Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1820.)

Editorial Notes

Editorial Notes

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.

Amendments
2019—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 116–92 substituted "2027" for "2019".
2015—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 114–99, §3, inserted at end of concluding provisions "An agency that receives amounts from the Postal Service under this paragraph shall use the amounts for breast cancer research."
Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 114–99, §2, substituted "2019" for "2015".
2011—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 112–80 substituted "2015" for "2011".
2007—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 110–150 substituted "2011" for "2007".
2005—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 109–100 substituted "2007" for "2005".
2004—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 108–199 substituted "2005" for "2003".
2001—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 107–67, §650(c), substituted "of not less than 15 percent" for "of not to exceed 25 percent" in par. (1) and inserted at end of concluding provisions "The special rate of postage of an individual stamp under this section shall be an amount that is evenly divisible by 5."
Subsec. (g), (h). Pub. L. 107–67, §650(b)(1), added subsecs. (g) and (h) and struck out former subsec. (g) which read as follows: "This section shall cease to be effective after July 29, 2002, or the end of the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of the Semipostal Authorization Act, whichever is later."
2000—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 106–253 amended subsec. (g) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (g) read as follows: "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."

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2001 Amendment
Pub. L. 107–67, title VI, §650(b)(2), Nov. 12, 2001, 115 Stat. 557, provided that: "The amendment made by this subsection [amending this section] shall take effect on the earlier of—
"(A) the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 12, 2001]; or
"(B) July 29, 2002."

Reporting Requirements
Pub. L. 110–150, §2, Dec. 21, 2007, 121 Stat. 1820, provided that: "The National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense shall each submit to Congress and the Government Accountability Office an annual report concerning the use of any amounts that it received under section 414(c) of title 39, United States Code, including a description of any significant advances or accomplishments, during the year covered by the report, that were funded, in whole or in part, with such amounts."

Report by Comptroller General of United States
Pub. L. 106–253, §3(b), July 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 637, provided that: "No later than 3 months and no earlier than 6 months before the date as of which section 414 of title 39, United States Code (as amended by this section) is scheduled to expire, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Congress a report on the operation of such section. Such report shall be in addition to the report required by section 2(b) of Public Law 105–41 [set out below], and shall address at least the same matters as were required to be included in that earlier report."
Pub. L. 105–41, §2(b), Aug. 13, 1997, 111 Stat. 1120, 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."