The House put off voting on a postal appropriations bill until later this week because an amendment about lifting the travel ban to Cuba was tacked on at the last minute.
That amendment, sponsored by Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is likely to spark lengthy debate on the House floor that could delay a vote on HR 5120, the $18.5 billion Treasury, Postal and General Government Appropriations bill.
That amendment would remove existing curbs on spending for the administration and enforcement of the government’s ban on travel to Cuba only if President Bush can certify that the Cuban government is not working on biological weapons that threaten the homeland security of the U.S nor is providing technological support or sanctuary to international terrorists.
The measure, which providing operating funds for the Treasury Department, the White House and a number of other federal agencies, also includes a $76.6 million appropriation for the U.S. Postal Service to cover its costs for processing reduced rate mail, free mail for the blind, and overseas voting.
That amount, which is some $30 million less than the USPS received last year, is also substantially less than the $519.4 billion that Congress awarded it last year to deal with the aftereffects of Sept.11 and the anthrax scare.
Meantime, the Senate, in a separate appropriations bill, (S-2740), introduced by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), allocates just $60 million for the USPS.
This proposed allocation is $47.6 million less than the $107.6 million recommended by the Senate Appropriations Committee. In a report attached to the bill, Senators indirectly chided Postal officials and its Board of Governors, for talking about dropping Saturday mail service to save money.
The Senate is expected to vote on Dorgan’s bill later in the week.
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