Bayard Rustin Stamp Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill sets out congressional findings about Bayard Rustin's life, including his Quaker-influenced commitment to nonviolence, civil-rights work, the 1947 Journey to Reconciliation, advising Martin Luther King Jr., organizing the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, LGBTQ-rights advocacy, labor-rights work, and co-founding the A. Philip Randolph Institute. It then directs the Postmaster General to issue, as soon as practicable after enactment, a forever stamp suitable to honor Rustin and depicting him. The bill defines a forever stamp as a definitive stamp that meets first-class one-ounce postage and remains valid even if postage rates rise.
Who Benefits and How
Bayard Rustin's legacy organizations, civil rights advocates, labor rights advocates, LGBTQ rights advocates, stamp collectors, and Postal Service customers benefit from a nationally issued commemorative forever stamp honoring Rustin's work.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The United States Postal Service and Postmaster General must design, approve, produce, issue, and distribute the stamp. USPS absorbs the administrative and production work associated with adding the Rustin stamp to its program.
Key Provisions
- Directs the Postmaster General to issue a forever stamp depicting Bayard Rustin.
- Defines the stamp as valid for first-class mail up to one ounce and permanently valid despite later postage increases.
- Uses findings to connect the stamp to Rustin's civil-rights, labor-rights, peace, nonviolence, and LGBTQ-rights work.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires the Postmaster General to issue a forever stamp depicting civil-rights, labor-rights, peace, and LGBTQ-rights activist Bayard Rustin as soon as practicable after enactment.
Key Policy Areas
Postal Service, Civil Rights, Culture
Primary Purpose
Requires the Postmaster General to issue a forever stamp depicting civil-rights, labor-rights, peace, and LGBTQ-rights activist Bayard Rustin as soon as practicable after enactment.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Civil rights advocates
- Labor rights advocates
- LGBTQ rights advocates
- Stamp collectors
- Postal Service customers
Identified Costs
- United States Postal Service
- Postmaster General
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Introduced in House
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E114-115)
Ms. Norton (for herself and Mr. Torres of New York) …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "postmaster_general"
- → Postmaster General
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A definitive stamp valid for first-class mail up to one ounce that remains valid if postage rates increase.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology