mass mailing
(6) (A) It is the intent of Congress that a Member of, or Member-elect to, Congress may not mail any mass mailing as franked mail— (i) if the mass mailing is postmarked fewer than 60 days immediately before the date of any primary election or general election (whether regular, special, or runoff) in which the Member is a candidate for reelection; or (ii) in the case of a Member of, or Member-elect to, the House who is a candidate for any other public office, if the mass mailing— (I) is prepared for delivery within any portion of the jurisdiction of or the area covered by the public office which is outside the area constituting the congressional district from which the Member or Member-elect was elected; or (II) is postmarked fewer than 60 days immediately before the date of any primary election or general election (whether regular, special, or runoff) in which the Member or Member-elect is a candidate for any other public office. (B) Any mass mailing which is mailed by the chairman of any organization referred to in the last sentence of section 3215 of this title which relates to the normal and regular business of the organization may be mailed without regard to the provisions of this paragraph. (C) No Member of the Senate may mail any mass mailing as franked mail if such mass mailing is postmarked fewer than 60 days immediately before the date of any primary election or general election (whether regular, special, or runoff) for any national, State or local office in which such Member is a candidate for election. (D) The Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate and the House Communications Standards Commission shall prescribe for their respective Houses rules and regulations, and shall take other action as the Committee or the Commission considers necessary and proper for Members and Members-elect to comply with the provisions of this paragraph and applicable rules and regulations, and in the case of the Commission, to waive this paragraph in the case of mailings sent in response to or to address threats to life safety. The rules and regulations shall include provisions prescribing the time within which mailings shall be mailed at or delivered to any postal facility and the time when the mailings shall be deemed to have been mailed or delivered to comply with the provisions of this paragraph. (E) As used in this section, the term “mass mailing” means, with respect to a session of Congress, any mailing of newsletters or other pieces of mail with substantially identical content (whether such mail is deposited singly or in bulk, or at the same time or different times), totaling more than 500 pieces in that session, except that such term does not include any mailing— (i) of matter in direct response to a communication from a person to whom the matter is mailed; (ii) from a Member of Congress to other Members of Congress, or to Federal, State, or local government officials; (iii) of a news release to the communications media; or (iv) providing information exclusively on competitions which are officially sanctioned by the House of Representatives or Senate, nominations to military service academies, official employment listings for positions in the House of Representatives (including listings for positions in the Wounded Warrior Program or the Gold Star Family Fellowship Program), or natural disasters or other threats to public health and life safety. (F) For purposes of subparagraphs (A) and (C) if mail matter is of a type which is not customarily postmarked, the date on which such matter would have been postmarked if it were of a type customarily postmarked shall apply.