Govwatch

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9076 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9076

           To require a court order for use of a mail cover.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 29, 2026

  Ms. Scanlon (for herself, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. McGovern, Ms. 
   Norton, and Ms. Jacobs) introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
           To require a court order for use of a mail cover.

    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 ``Postal Data Privacy Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. MAIL COVERS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 83 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 1737 the following:
``Sec. 1738. Limitation on use of mail covers
    ``(a) Requirement for Court Order.--
            ``(1) Limitation.--A governmental entity may not use a mail 
        cover, unless the governmental entity obtains a court order 
        pursuant to paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Court order.--A court order authorizing the use of a 
        mail cover may be issued by any court that is a court of 
        competent jurisdiction and shall issue only if a governmental 
        entity offers specific and articulable facts showing that there 
        are reasonable grounds to believe that mail covers are relevant 
        and material to an ongoing criminal investigation. In the case 
        of a State governmental authority, such a court order shall not 
        issue if prohibited by the law of such State.
    ``(b) Requirement To Preserve Evidence.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Chief Postal Inspector, upon the 
        request of a governmental entity, shall take all necessary 
        steps to preserve records and other evidence in its possession 
        pending the issuance of a court order or other process.
            ``(2) Period of retention.--Records referred to in 
        paragraph (1) shall be retained for a period of 90 days, which 
        shall be extended for an additional 90-day period upon a 
        renewed request by the governmental entity.
    ``(c) Mail Cover Defined.--The term `mail cover' has the meaning 
given that term in section 233.3 of title 39, Code of Federal 
Regulations (or any successor regulation).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 83 of 
title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
related to section 1737 the following:

``1738. Limitation on use of mail covers.''.
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Postal Data Privacy Act of 2026

Full Text
