Postal Reform Vote Expected July 26
House Rules Committee Approves
Four Amendments for Consideration

APWU Web News Article #33-05, July 26, 2005

The Rules Committee of the House of Representatives voted Monday afternoon to allow consideration of four amendments to postal reform legislation, which is expected to be debated and voted on by the full House Tuesday, July 26.

The committee rejected consideration of an amendment to H.R. 22, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, that would have severely limited the benefits of injured workers after postal unions asked their members to contact their representatives and urge them to vote against such an amendment.

“We are pleased by the decision not to accept the amendment regarding Workers Compensation,” said APWU President William Burrus. “However, the legislation is not yet final. We must continue to be vigilant as the process moves forward.”

The amendments that were approved for consideration — in the order they will be debated — are as follows:

• An amendment offered by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) would remove the requirement that the first vacant slot on the postal Board of Governors be filled by an individual with the unanimous backing of the labor unions. The board currently consists of nine members, with no more than five from the same party.
  
  
• Presented by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), the second amendment to be considered would establish a pilot program to “empower local postmasters to employ their experience and management expertise, absent the restrictions of the Postal Service’s monopolies on first-class mail delivery and the use of postal mailboxes, to test certain fundamental assumptions relating to the provisions of universal mail service in the United States.”
  
  
• An amendment offered by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) would keep responsibility for military retirement costs with the Postal Service, instead of transferring it to the Treasury. The USPS is the only federal agency that bears responsibility for these costs. Hensarling’s amendment would also require the USPS to apply money released from escrow under H.R. 22 to “the Postal Service’s unfunded healthcare liability, instead of it flowing to the Postal Service for its own use.”
  
  
• The final amendment to be voted on, offered by Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), would establish a Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Board Pilot Program within the Postal Service to monitor and enforce claims of abuse and that would call for congressional review after three years.
  

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