Modern Congressional Franked Mail

I recently wrote my elected representatives regarding some issues I had with the President's 2013 budget proposal and have received replies from two of the three thus far.

I thought it would be interesting to see examples of modern Congressional covers -- here are the two that I received.

This one is from Representative Gerald E. Connolly, 11th District, Virginia. It is a good thing he used a #10 envelope, otherwise there wouldn't have been room for his signature!


And here is one from Senator Mark Warner. Senator Warner was elected in November of 2008 (he had been the Governor of Virginia, which limits the holder of that office to a single term) and assumed his current position in January 2009. One has to wonder just how many "Senator Elect" envelopes were ordered if he's still using them three years into his term...

My stepfather works in the U.S. Senate printing office that also handles all the mass mailings. I could ask him sometime soon to see if they still have stock of the Senator elect envelopes for Warner. I get used stamps from time to time from the mail folks send into their representatives before it all heads to the shreaders.

Those are nice examples of Congressional Mail.

I find it interesting that the barcodes on the bottom of the envelopes are entirely different. Also, even with the same ZIP Code noted, the bar code at the right are different between the two examples, even though the address and ZIP Code is presumably the same.

I also note that the Senator Elect Mark Warner example suggests the mail was sent Presort Standard, in effect, bulk rate. Was that part of a mass mailing to all of his constituents?

wt1, It was sent in response to my letter; however, when a Member receives a significant amount of constituent correspondence regarding similar issue areas his/her generic response probably constitutes a mass mailing. As to the bar code differences, I imagine that is a consequence of each Chamber having its own mail handling apparatus.



battlestamps, I'd be interested in hearing his response. While Virginia has 8 million residents it is hard to imagine that more than 3 years worth of "Senator Elect" stock would have been printed. The Senator was a member of the "Gang of Six" so I'll just consider their continued use as part of his ongoing effort to reduce the federal deficit. Still, I wonder if Warner's staff is aware that his outgoing mail carries that outdated franking.

tomiseksj: I'll ask my stepfather this weekend. He works second shift with the Snate printing (and mailing office). His jobs is direcntly involved with the mass mailings from the senators. The office also recently moved. It was in the same building as the National Postal Museum in DC, but now it's in Prince George's county, Maryland. I'm not sure how much of the envelope stock transfered. When he gives me the clipped stamps they're usually in one or more of those free franking envelopes. I thought of asking for a full "mint" set of all 50 senators, but somehow I doubt that's ethical for him to take. The stamps are saved from the shredder so no biggie there.

Maybe a letter to each of the Senators requesting an unused copy of their stationery might get you your complete set...

This one from Senator Webb completes my set.

I have a unique collection of samples of both used (postmarked) and unused franked envelopes of many sizes and corresponding stationary, photos, and other ephemera from the majority of the members of the US Senate in 1970. Including many personal letters, signed by hand (one would assume generally by assistants). I was a teenage stamp collector and had an idea to collect the franked envelope of every member of the US Senate that year, and wrote each one a letter requesting a sample. If you check the list that year there are quite a few pretty historic names, incl. Edward Kennedy (have a fully handwritten signed note from his office), Barry Goldwater, Eugene McCarthy, Strom Thurmond (big signed photo), etc. I'm interested in organizing and presenting it in some way that is really intelligent and interesting while being educational. It could be anything from a large wall mounted set of materials to a story about it all done in a TED Talk or video aimed at younger stamp collectors. Thought I'd see if you had any ideas of groups or resources, auction houses even, related to this subject of govt. franked envelopes that might help me figure out what to do with something that does offer a unique little historical snapshot of the way everyone responded along with the collection itself. Happy to send some pix. Bill Swartz

I wonder how much mail they would send out if they had to actually "frank" their mail - I mean actually signing their name on the corner of the envelope as opposed to using these pre-printed envelopes. It would likely save the taxpayers quite a bit of money and avoid quite a bit of junk mail.