The House Rules Committee late last night voted against giving the U.S. Postal Service $500 million to pay for mail sanitation equipment.
The 8-2 vote killed an amendment to an $20 billion Defense Department appropriations bill that would have been the first installment of funds on the $3 billion that Postmaster General John Potter requested to help pay for equipment to rid the mails of biological agents such as anthrax.
The panel rejected the proposed amendment, sponsored by Rep. David Obey (D-WI), on technical grounds: Obey’s failure to first submit the proposal to the Appropriations Committee for approval, according to congressional documents.
Besides the $3 billion, Potter is seeking an immediate $2 billion from Congress to cover the postal service’s costs of dealing with the after effects of Sept. 11 including staggering financial losses stemming from sharply reduced mail volume and revenue.
Obey’s amendment was one of four the committee, chaired by Rep. David Dreier (R-CA), rejected on procedural grounds, according to its report to the full House which is expected to vote on the entire $20 billion spending package by week’s end.
At the same time, the Senate Appropriations Committee is considering an amendment to a $1.1 economic stimulus bill that would provide the USPS with the money Potter is seeking. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WVA), the panel’s chairman, has not indicated when the Senate will vote on the measure.
Mailers are disappointed by the panel’s action.
“If the postal service doesn’t receive additional funding before Congress adjourns, it is going to put more pressure on postal rate payers to pick up the slack,” said Neal Denton, Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers executive director.
Network
