An amendment giving millions in aid to the USPS was killed shortly before the Senate approved a $318 billion defense bill Saturday.
The defense bill included $875 million for the postal service as part of a $5 billion bail out. Just hours before the bill was acted on, the Senate Republican majority killed the amendment muscled through the Appropriations Committee by Democrats.
Postmaster General John Potter had requested the bail out to deal with the after effects of Sept. 11 and to purchase equipment to eliminate anthrax and other biological agents from the mail stream. Three billion was to go to sanitize the mail while the additional $2 billion was to be used to make up revenue losses following Sept. 11.
The amendment was sponsored by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) and endorsed by the Direct Marketing Association. During the debate on the amendment, President Bush had threatened to veto the bill if its overall total was increased.
The defense bill increases pay for U.S. troops and provides the Bush administration the full funding it sought for a national missile defense program.
The President Saturday congratulated the Senate for approving the bill saying in a statement that the action has “ensured the funding necessary to recover from the Sept. 11 attacks and to protect and defend our homeland.”
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