Live From The DMA’s Government Affairs Conference: House Staff Say No Chance for Postal Reform

It doesn’t get more unequivocal than this: Asked whether postal reform be considered by Congress this year, the chiefs of staff for both House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland and House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Montana replied with one-word “no”s.

This revelation came during a question-and-answer session following presentations by Cory Alexander, Hoyer’s chief of staff, and Brian Gaston, who stepped into the same role for Blunt on Monday.

Fair’s fair: The question had been put to them as a simple yes-or-no proposition. But given the opportunity to comment further, both cited the run-up to the general election as a factor, as well as wrangling over federal budget and other top-tier issues. Alexander added that the balance of 2004 would likely focus on other issues of more universal importance, such as homeland security, while Gaston noted that the large number of Democratic senators seeking the White House had slowed the legislative pace of the other congressional chamber.

“If we were doing to do [postal reform} we would have needed to have done it last year,” Gaston said.

Both agreed that the process of bringing legislation to the House floor was designed to be as deliberate as possible, and when the majority is held by one party or another the system is geared toward gridlock.

In fact, even large issues such as the federal budget would not likely be resolved by the Sept. 30 deadline, when 13 appropriations bills are scheduled to be passed. The bills are likely to be shaped through the early part of 2005.

So what are legislators focusing on when not running for re-election? “We had to pass the prescription drug bill, and pass the $750 billion tax cut,” Gaston said.

Alexander mentioned an increased emphasis on financing for first responders, jobs growth and a huge transportation bill.

Some conference attendees took the access to the two congressional staffers to bring up points of personal, rather than professional, interest. Asked about the possibility of a draft, which had been raised earlier this week by Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Alexander said that it would not likely be an active legislation issue, while noting that the current federal budget does not call for any appropriations beyond the June 30 deadline for handing control over to a yet-to-be-determined Iraqi governing structure.

Gaston observed that the current U.S. armed forces were made up of volunteers precisely for the reason of avoiding drafts.

Both appeared relieved when the conversation turned to other issues. In response to a question on outsourcing, Gaston said that recent legislation introduced by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) that calls for consumer consent before personally identifiable data is transferred overseas was “a creative way of stopping not outsourcing, but the flow of jobs.”

He added that some unnamed individuals would be “playing on the fact that foreigners have access to this [data], rather than Americans,” a fact that obscures the need for stronger data protection regardless of where the data is sent.

Alexander dived into a question about the lack of trained, industry-ready workers who could potentially serve as customer service reps by commenting on education and job training programs. These programs, he said, had suffered when the federal revenue was depleted due to the Bush tax cuts. “We are opposed to making the tax cuts permanent,” he said. “It’s not a smart thing to do long term.”