COMMS Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7512 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 3, 2020 Received AN ACT To rename the House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards as the House Communications Standards Commission, to extend the authority of the Commission to regulate mass mailings of Members and Members- elect of the House of Representatives to all unsolicited mass communications of Members and Members-elect of the House, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 7512 RDS 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 ‘‘Communications Out- 4 reach Media and Mail Standards Act’’ or the ‘‘COMMS 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. RENAMING HOUSE COMMISSION ON CONGRES- 7 SIONAL MAILING STANDARDS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5(a) of the Act entitled 9 ‘‘An Act to amend title 39, United States Code, to clarify 10 the proper use of the franking privilege by Members of 11 Congress, and for other purposes’’, approved December 12 18, 1973 (2 U.S.C. 501(a)), is amended by striking 13 ‘‘House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards’’ 14 and inserting ‘‘House Communications Standards Com- 15 mission’’. 16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 17 (1) TITLE 39.—Title 39, United States Code, is 18 amended by striking ‘‘House Commission on Con- 19 gressional Mailing Standards’’ and inserting ‘‘House 20 Communications Standards Commission’’ each place 21 it appears in the following sections: 22 (A) Section 3210(a)(5), (a)(6)(D), (b)(3), 23 (d)(5), and (d)(6)(A). 24 (B) Section 3216(e)(1) and (e)(2). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 7512 RDS (C) Section 3220(b). 1 (2) OTHER PROVISIONS.—Section 311 of the 2 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1991 (2 3 U.S.C. 503) is amended by striking ‘‘House Com- 4 mission on Congressional Mailing Standards’’ and 5 inserting ‘‘House Communications Standards Com- 6 mission’’ each place it appears in subsections (a)(3), 7 (e)(1)(B), and (f). 8 (c) REFERENCES IN OTHER DOCUMENTS.—Any ref- 9 erence in any rule, regulation, or other document to the 10 House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards 11 shall be deemed to be a reference to the House Commu- 12 nications Standards Commission. 13 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION OVER OFFICIAL MASS 14 COMMUNICATIONS. 15 (a) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE REGARDING 16 DISSEMINATION OF MASS COMMUNICATIONS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5(d) of the Act enti- 18 tled ‘‘An Act to amend title 39, United States Code, 19 to clarify the proper use of the franking privilege by 20 Members of Congress, and for other purposes’’, ap- 21 proved December 18, 1973 (2 U.S.C. 501(d)), is 22 amended— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 7512 RDS (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘The 1 Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) The Commis- 2 sion’’; and 3 (B) by adding at the end the following new 4 paragraph: 5 ‘‘(2) In addition to the guidance, assistance, ad- 6 vice, and counsel described in paragraph (1), the 7 Commission shall provide— 8 ‘‘(A) guidance, assistance, advice, and 9 counsel, through advisory opinions or consulta- 10 tions, in connection with any law and with any 11 rule or regulation of the House of Representa- 12 tives governing the dissemination of mass com- 13 munications other than franked mail; and 14 ‘‘(B) guidance, assistance, advice, and 15 counsel in connection with any law and with 16 any rule or regulation of the House of Rep- 17 resentatives governing the official content of 18 other official communications of any quantity, 19 whether solicited or unsolicited.’’. 20 (2) AUTHORITY TO INVESTIGATE COM- 21 PLAINTS.—Section 5(e) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 22 501(e)) is amended— 23 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Any 24 complaint’’ and all that follows through ‘‘is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 7512 RDS about to occur’’ and inserting the following: 1 ‘‘Any complaint that a violation of any provi- 2 sion of law or any rule or regulation of the 3 House of Representatives to which subsection 4 (d) applies is about to occur’’; and 5 (B) in the sentence beginning with ‘‘Not- 6 withstanding any other provision of law’’, by 7 striking ‘‘a violation of the franking laws or an 8 abuse of the franking privilege by any person 9 listed under subsection (d) of this section as en- 10 titled to send mail as franked mail,’’ and insert- 11 ing ‘‘a violation of any provision of law or any 12 rule or regulation of the House of Representa- 13 tives to which subsection (d) applies,’’. 14 (3) MASS COMMUNICATION DEFINED.—Section 15 5 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 501) is amended by adding 16 at the end the following new subsection: 17 ‘‘(h) In this section, the term ‘mass communication’ 18 means a mass mailing described in section 3210(a)(6)(E) 19 of title 39, United States Code, or any other unsolicited 20 communication of substantially identical content which is 21 transmitted to 500 or more persons in a session of Con- 22 gress, as provided under regulations of the Commission, 23 except that such term does not include— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 7512 RDS ‘‘(1) any communication from an individual de- 1 scribed in subsection (d) to another individual de- 2 scribed in subsection (d), a Senator, or any Federal, 3 State, local, or Tribal government official; 4 ‘‘(2) any news release to the communications 5 media; 6 ‘‘(3) any such mass mailing or unsolicited com- 7 munication made in direct response to a communica- 8 tion from a person to whom the mass mailing or un- 9 solicited communication was transmitted; or 10 ‘‘(4) in the case of any such unsolicited commu- 11 nication which is transmitted in a digital format, a 12 communication for which the cost of the content is 13 less than a threshold amount established under reg- 14 ulations of the House Communications Standards 15 Commission.’’. 16 (b) AUTHORITY TO REVIEW ALL UNSOLICITED MASS 17 COMMUNICATIONS.— 18 (1) REQUIRING REVIEW BEFORE DISSEMINA- 19 TION.—Section 311(f) of the Legislative Branch Ap- 20 propriations Act, 1991 (2 U.S.C. 503(f)) is amend- 21 ed— 22 (A) by striking ‘‘any mass mailing’’ and in- 23 serting ‘‘any mass communication’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 7512 RDS (B) by striking ‘‘mail matter’’ and insert- 1 ing ‘‘matter’’; and 2 (C) by striking ‘‘such proposed mailing’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘such proposed communication’’. 4 (2) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN COMMUNICA- 5 TIONS.—Section 311(f) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 6 503(f)) is amended— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘A Member’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 9 Member’’; and 10 (B) by adding at the end the following new 11 paragraph: 12 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply in the case of any 13 type of mass communication which is designated as ex- 14 empt from the requirements of such paragraph as pro- 15 vided under regulations of the House Communications 16 Standards Commission.’’. 17 (3) DEFINITION.—Section 311(g) of such Act 18 (2 U.S.C. 503(g)) is amended— 19 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para- 20 graph (1); 21 (B) by striking the period at the end of 22 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 23 (C) by adding at the end the following new 24 paragraph: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 7512 RDS ‘‘(3) the term ‘mass communication’ means a 1 mass mailing described in section 3210(a)(6)(E) of 2 title 39, United States Code, or any other unsolic- 3 ited communication of substantially identical content 4 which is transmitted to 500 or more persons in a 5 session of Congress, as provided under regulations of 6 the House Communications Standards Commission, 7 except that such term does not include— 8 ‘‘(A) any communication from a Member 9 of the House of Representatives to another 10 Member of the House of Representatives, a 11 Senator, or any Federal, State, or local govern- 12 ment official; 13 ‘‘(B) any news release to the communica- 14 tions media; 15 ‘‘(C) any such mass mailing or unsolicited 16 communication made in direct response to a 17 communication from a person to whom the 18 mass mailing or unsolicited communication was 19 transmitted; or 20 ‘‘(D) in the case of any such unsolicited 21 communication which is transmitted in a digital 22 format, a communication for which the cost of 23 the content is less than a threshold amount es- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 7512 RDS tablished under regulations of the House Com- 1 munications Standards Commission.’’. 2 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO RULES OF THE 3 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—Clause 9 of rule XXIV 4 of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended 5 by inserting after ‘‘that session,’’ the following: ‘‘or any 6 other unsolicited communication of substantially identical 7 content which is transmitted to 500 or more persons in 8 that session or, in the case of a digital communication of 9 substantially identical content, which is disseminated at 10 a cost exceeding a designated amount, as provided under 11 regulations of the House Communications Standards 12 Commission,’’. 13 SEC. 4. REVISION TO MASS MAILING NOTICE ON TAXPAYER 14 FUNDING. 15 Section 311(a) of the Legislative Branch Appropria- 16 tions Act, 1997 (2 U.S.C. 506(a)) is amended— 17 (1) by striking ‘‘(a) Each mass mailing’’ and 18 inserting ‘‘(a)(1) Each mass mailing’’; 19 (2) by striking ‘‘the following notice:’’ and all 20 that follows through ‘‘or a notice’’ and inserting 21 ‘‘one of the notices described in paragraph (2) or a 22 notice’’; and 23 (3) by adding at the end the following new 24 paragraph: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 HR 7512 RDS ‘‘(2) The notices described in this paragraph are as 1 follows: 2 ‘‘(A) ‘Paid for with official funds from the of- 3 fice of lllll.’, with the blank filled in with 4 the name of the Member sending the mailing. 5 ‘‘(B) ‘Paid for by the funds authorized by the 6 House of Representatives for District ll of 7 lllll.’, with the first blank filled in with the 8 name of the congressional district number, and the 9 second blank filled in with the name of the State, of 10 the Member sending the mailing. 11 ‘‘(C) ‘Paid for by official funds authorized by 12 the House of Representatives.’ ’’. 13 SEC. 5. REVISIONS TO RESTRICTIONS ON MAIL MATTER 14 CONSIDERED FRANKABLE. 15 (a) EXPRESSIONS OF CONGRATULATIONS.—Section 16 3210(a)(3)(F) of title 39, United States Code, is amended 17 by striking ‘‘to a person who has achieved some public 18 distinction’’. 19 (b) BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION RELATED TO OF- 20 FICIAL AND REPRESENTATIONAL DUTIES.—Section 21 3210(a)(3)(I) of such title is amended by striking ‘‘publi- 22 cation or in response to a specific request therefor’’ and 23 inserting the following: ‘‘publication, in response to a spe- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 HR 7512 RDS cific request therefor, or which relates to the Member’s 1 or Member-elect’s official and representational duties,’’. 2 (c) PHOTOS AND LIKENESSES INCLUDED IN NEWS- 3 LETTERS OR GENERAL MASS MAILINGS.—Section 4 3210(a)(3) of such title is amended— 5 (1) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 6 (H); 7 (2) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and 8 inserting a period; and 9 (3) by striking subparagraph (J). 10 (d) CLARIFICATION OF ABILITY OF MEMBERS TO 11 USE FRANKED MAIL TO SEND PERSONAL MESSAGES TO 12 CONSTITUENTS.—Section 3210(a)(4) of such title is 13 amended by striking the period at the end and inserting 14 the following: ‘‘, except that nothing in this paragraph 15 may be construed to prohibit the use of the franking privi- 16 lege for the transmission of matter which is purely per- 17 sonal to a recipient who is a constituent of a Member of 18 Congress and which is related to the official business, ac- 19 tivities, and duties of the Member.’’. 20 (e) HOLIDAY CARDS.—Section 3210(a)(5)(B)(iii) of 21 such title is amended by striking ‘‘holiday greetings’’ and 22 inserting ‘‘religious holiday greetings’’. 23 (f) UNIFORM BLACKOUT PERIOD FOR ALL MEMBERS 24 OF CONGRESS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 HR 7512 RDS (1) UNIFORM PERIOD.—Section 3210(a)(6)(A) 1 of such title is amended— 2 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘(or, in the 3 case of a Member of the House, fewer than 90 4 days)’’; and 5 (B) in clause (ii)(II), by striking ‘‘90 6 days’’ and inserting ‘‘60 days’’. 7 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 8 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to the reg- 9 ularly scheduled general election for Federal office 10 held in November 2020 and each succeeding election 11 for public office. 12 (g) NONAPPLICATION OF BLACKOUT PERIOD TO 13 PARTY NOMINATING CONVENTIONS OR CAUCUSES.—Sec- 14 tion 3210(a)(6) of such title is amended by adding at the 15 end the following new subparagraph: 16 ‘‘(G) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘pri- 17 mary election’ does not include a convention or caucus of 18 a political party which has authority to nominate a can- 19 didate.’’. 20 (h) INFORMATION ON CERTAIN MATTERS.—Section 21 3210(a)(6)(E) of such title is amended— 22 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (ii); 23 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 24 (iii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7512.RDS H7512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 HR 7512 RDS (3) by adding at the end the following new 1 clause: 2 ‘‘(iv) providing information exclusively on com- 3 petitions which [Text truncated for display. 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