The President has signed into law (P.L. 106-253) legislation to reauthorize the sale of special U.S. postage stamps to raise money for breast cancer research. The bill (H.R. 4437) was signed on July 28, following the Senate’s voice vote approval on July 26. The House passed the measure on July 17 (see The Source, 7/21/00).
Created in 1997 under the Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act (P.L. 105-41), the expiring program would be extended through 2002. At a cost of 40 cents—rather than the regular 33-cent rate for first-class postage—the special stamp raises about 7 cents per stamp for breast cancer research at the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. In addition to continuing the breast cancer stamp, the bill would expand the program to allow other “semipostal” stamps to help fund other types of medical research, as well as other causes (see The Source, 6/30/00).
Meanwhile, the Senate on July 27 considered its own version (S. 2386) of the Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act reauthorization, which was approved by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on June 14 (see The Source, 6/30/00).
The Senate approved S. 2386 by voice vote with an amendment offered by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI). On the Senate floor, Sen. Levin said that with his amendment, S. 2386 differs from House measure “in that it requires the Postal Service to recoup the full costs associated with the stamp.” He added: “This bill will ensure that the Postal Service recovers its costs before funds are made available to the agency to carry out the designated program. We do not want the Postal Service using its own budget to fund contributions to causes designated by semipostals.”
