Supply Our Soldiers Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4976 To provide for free mailing privileges for personal correspondence and parcels sent to members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, or other designated hostile fire areas. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 1, 2019 Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. MOORE, and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To provide for free mailing privileges for personal cor- respondence and parcels sent to members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, or other designated hostile fire areas. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supply Our Soldiers 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4976.IH H4976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4976 IH SEC. 2. POSTAL BENEFITS PROGRAM FOR MEMBERS OF 1 THE ARMED FORCES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in con- 3 sultation with the United States Postal Service, shall pro- 4 vide for a program under which postal benefits shall be 5 provided to qualified individuals in accordance with suc- 6 ceeding provisions of this Act. 7 (b) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 8 Act, the term ‘‘qualified individual’’ means an individual 9 who— 10 (1) is a member of the Armed Forces of the 11 United States on active duty (as defined in section 12 101 of title 10, United States Code); and 13 (2)(A) is serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, or other 14 designated hostile fire area, as described in section 15 351(a)(1) of title 37, United States Code; or 16 (B) is hospitalized at a facility under the juris- 17 diction of the Armed Forces of the United States as 18 a result of a disease or injury incurred as a result 19 of service described in subparagraph (A). 20 (c) POSTAL BENEFITS DESCRIBED.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The postal benefits provided 22 under this Act shall consist of such coupons or other 23 similar evidence of credit (whether in printed, elec- 24 tronic, or other format, and in this Act referred to 25 as ‘‘vouchers’’) as the Secretary of Defense (in con- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4976.IH H4976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4976 IH sultation with the Postal Service) shall determine, 1 entitling the bearer or user to make qualified mail- 2 ings free of postage. 3 (2) QUALIFIED MAILING.—For purposes of this 4 Act, the term ‘‘qualified mailing’’ means the mailing 5 of a single mail piece which— 6 (A) is described in subparagraph (A) or 7 (B) of paragraph (3); 8 (B) is sent from within an area served by 9 a United States post office; and 10 (C) is addressed to a qualified individual. 11 (3) MAIL DESCRIBED.—Mail described in this 12 paragraph is— 13 (A) any first-class mail (including any 14 sound- or video-recorded communication) not 15 exceeding 13 ounces in weight and having the 16 character of personal correspondence; and 17 (B) parcel post not exceeding 15 pounds in 18 weight. 19 (4) LIMITATIONS.— 20 (A) NUMBER.—An individual shall be eligi- 21 ble for 1 voucher for each month in which such 22 individual is a qualified individual. 23 (B) USE.—Any such voucher may not be 24 used— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4976.IH H4976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4976 IH (i) for more than a single qualified 1 mailing; or 2 (ii) beyond the expiration date of such 3 voucher, as designated by the Secretary of 4 Defense. 5 (5) COORDINATION RULE.—Postal benefits 6 under this Act shall be in addition to, and not in lieu 7 of, any reduced rates of postage or other similar 8 benefits which might otherwise be available by or 9 under law, including any rates of postage resulting 10 from the application of section 3401(b) of title 39, 11 United States Code. 12 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 30 days after the 13 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 14 (in consultation with the Postal Service) shall prescribe 15 any regulations necessary to carry out this Act, includ- 16 ing— 17 (1) procedures by which vouchers will be pro- 18 vided or made available in a timely manner to per- 19 sons duly identified by qualified individuals to re- 20 ceive those vouchers; and 21 (2) procedures to ensure that the number of 22 vouchers provided or made available with respect to 23 any qualified individual complies with subsection 24 (c)(4)(A). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4976.IH H4976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4976 IH SEC. 3. FUNDING. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 2 priated to the Department of Defense, for fiscal years 3 2020 through 2025, a sum determined by the Secretary 4 of Defense to be equal to the expenses incurred by the 5 Department in providing the benefits described in section 6 2(c) for such fiscal years. Such sum shall be derived from 7 amounts appropriated in each such fiscal year for Oper- 8 ation and Maintenance, Defense-wide, for the Office of the 9 Secretary of Defense, and shall not to exceed $75 million 10 for the total period beginning with fiscal year 2020 and 11 ending with fiscal year 2025. 12 (b) TRANSFERS TO POSTAL SERVICE.— 13 (1) BASED ON ESTIMATES.—The Secretary of 14 Defense shall transfer to the Postal Service, out of 15 any amount so appropriated and in advance of each 16 calendar quarter during which postal benefits under 17 this Act may be used, an amount equal to the 18 amount of postal benefits that the Secretary of De- 19 fense estimates will be used during such quarter, re- 20 duced or increased (as the case may be) by any 21 amounts by which the Secretary finds that a deter- 22 mination under this section for a prior quarter was 23 greater than or less than the amount finally deter- 24 mined for such quarter. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4976.IH H4976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4976 IH (2) BASED ON ANNUAL DETERMINATION.—For 1 each of the fiscal years 2020 through 2025, an an- 2 nual determination of the amount necessary to cor- 3 rect any previous determination under this section 4 during such fiscal year, and any transfer of amounts 5 between the Postal Service and the Department of 6 Defense based on that annual determination, shall 7 be made not later than 6 months after the end of 8 such fiscal year. 9 (3) BASED ON FINAL DETERMINATION.—A 10 final determination of the amount necessary to cor- 11 rect any previous determination under this section, 12 and any transfer of amounts between the Postal 13 Service and the Department of Defense based on 14 that final determination, shall be made not later 15 than 6 months after the end of fiscal year 2025. 16 (c) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—All estimates and 17 determinations under this section of the amount of postal 18 benefits under this Act used in any period shall be made 19 by the Department of Defense in consultation with the 20 Postal Service. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4976.IH H4976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4976 IH SEC. 4. DURATION. 1 The postal benefits under this Act shall apply with 2 respect to mail matter sent during the period beginning 3 on October 1, 2019, and ending on September 30, 2025. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4976.IH H4976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS