[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3940 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3940

   To provide funds for postage for mailing of information on active 
                   stranger abduction investigations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 2, 1994

Ms. Woolsey (for herself and Mr. Dickey) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred jointly to the Committees on Post Office and Civil 
            Service, the Judiciary, and House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide funds for postage for mailing of information on active 
                   stranger abduction investigations.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Polly Klaas Child Rescue Act of 
1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) stranger abductions of children are a tragic reality in 
        the United States, and the story of Polly Hannah Klaas is yet 
        another frightening example of the presence of child abduction 
        in our society;
            (2) the leads that have resulted in the successful recovery 
        of children have often been the result of the distribution of 
        pictures of and information about abducted children or their 
        abductors;
            (3) sophisticated and comprehensive mailing lists have been 
        compiled by abduction experts, but the ability to utilize the 
        lists to distribute pertinent information in a prompt manner is 
        often imperiled by an initial lack of funds for postage;
            (4) the necessary costs to mail information about abducted 
        children nationwide are often too great for families and their 
        communities to provide in a prompt manner; therefore, there is 
        often a delay in mailing out crucial information which could 
        successfully lead to the recovery of the child; and
            (5) the Federal Bureau of Investigation does not use its 
        resources to post information in public places, such as 
        hospitals, community centers, etc., about children abducted by 
        strangers.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR POSTAGE FOR MAILING OF 
              INFORMATION ON ACTIVE STRANGER ABDUCTION INVESTIGATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated for each 
fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 1995, for the purpose described 
in subsection (b), an amount equal to two percent of the amount 
appropriated for official mail costs of the House of Representatives 
for fiscal year 1994, adjusted for any increase in first-class postage 
rates.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose referred to in subsection (a) is the 
payment of first-class postage for mailing of information on active 
investigations of children abducted by strangers.
    (c) Use of Funds.--Funds may be used by the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation to pay the Postal Service for postage to be used by any 
local entity engaged in the search for a child abducted by a stranger. 
In the event that no local entity exists, the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation may use postage.
    (d) Restriction of Funds.--Funds shall not be used unless the 
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation determines, to the best 
of the Director's ability, that--
            (1) a stranger abduction has occurred;
            (2) the stranger abduction involved occurred not more than 
        one year before the date of the determination;
            (3) the mailing will benefit the investigation;
            (4) an accurate and appropriate mailing list is available 
        for the mailing; and
            (5) funds are not immediately available and a delay in the 
        mailing would be harmful to the investigation.
    (e) Limitation.--The amount that may be spent on mailings is 
limited to $15,000 per abducted child.

SEC. 4. EMERGENCY FISCAL YEAR 1994 FUNDING.

    Two percent of the amount appropriated for official mail costs of 
the House of Representatives for fiscal year 1994 shall be made 
available for that fiscal year to the Director of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation for the purpose described in section 3(b).

SEC. 5. FUNDING LEVEL FOR LATER FISCAL YEARS.

    If, for any fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 1995, the amount 
appropriated pursuant to the authorization in section 3 is less than 
the authorized amount, the difference may be paid from the amount 
appropriated for official mail costs of the House of Representatives 
for the fiscal year involved.

SEC. 6. PROMPT IMPLEMENTATION OF MAILINGS.

    In instances in which the Director of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation makes the determination defined in section 3(d), the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation shall transfer immediately the 
necessary funds for mailing to the Postal Service. Upon receiving the 
necessary funds from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Postal 
Service will expedite the mailing.

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