"This bill, the refined product of nearly 10 years of careful negotiations and compromise, strikes an ideal balance among the guiding principles on which both the House and the (Bush) administration are in agreement." – Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA)

The House of Representatives ended a 35-year drought late in the evening on July 26, rejecting a few anti-worker amendments, and then passing by an overwhelming 410-20 vote bipartisan legislation to reform U.S. Postal Service operations in the 21st Century while maintaining universal six-day delivery service.

In sending the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (H.R. 22) to the Senate, both Republican and Democrat lawmakers brushed aside a threat from the White House that President Bush would consider vetoing the bill if it includes two provisions involving military pensions and CSRS escrow account that are considered by the administration as having an adverse impact on the federal budget.

The overwhelming size of the margin of passage was a clear sign that members of both political parties strongly backed the legislation that has been in the works for almost a decade and reflects a consensus of input from postal management associations, unions, mailers and even the President’s Commission on the U.S. Postal Service.

"The bill ... will make sure that the Postal Service can go into this 21st Century as a viable institution; where it competes, to make sure that it will not compete unfairly; and where it is doing its job as a unique establishment, it will be handled in a way so that it will be run efficiently and effectively for the public good." – Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)

NALC President William H. Young said the lopsided House vote was only the first step in efforts to secure long-term viability of the Postal Service in the Internet Age noting that a lot of work remains to move reform through the U.S. Senate when Congress reconvenes after Labor Day.

Stay on Alert

"This overwhelming vote of support in the House will provide the momentum to continue our struggle as we go to the next stage," Young said. "For the first time, we have a great opportunity to win enactment of meaningful postal reform, but it has to be the right postal reform."

"All e-Activists can take pride that their efforts have made this possible," he added. "We now need all NALC members to remain on alert as we try to bring this to closure and protect against any last-minute maneuvers by our opponents."

A similar, but slightly different, bill sponsored by Chairman Susan Colllins (R-ME) and Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) is awaiting Senate floor action after approval by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee by a 15-1 vote June 22.

"(The bill) provides the United State Postal Service with the necessary tools to operate in a manner that most of us expect, like a modern, flexible, nimble business competing on a fair playing field operating in an efficient and professional manner." – Rep. John McHugh (R-NY)

Young said the NALC has some issues with the Senate bill relating to the banking resolution, price cap and exigency clause, adding that all those issues are interrelated and the wrong combination could seriously impact collective bargaining.

"Senator Collins has offered us the opportunity to discuss these issues and we are confident that a resolution can be reached that is fair to all," Young said. "We are grateful to Senator Collins for that opportunity."

Movement of the H.R. 22 on the House floor, and in the House Rules Committee just prior to floor action, was championed by Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee; and Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Danny Davis (D-IL) and John McHugh (R-NY).

Chairman Davis, in bringing up the measure for debate, alluded to the famed postal motto atop the James Farley Post Office in New York City, noting that the structural problems facing the Postal Service today are "far greater than the snow or rain or heat or gloom of night" cited in the motto.

"If it looks like a duck, acts like a duck, talks like a duck, then it is a duck. And it seems to me that the bottom line in this is an attempt to privatize the Postal Service which would decimate the concept of universal service." – Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) opposing Flake amendment to test alternate delivery services

Amendments Defeated

Before final passage, however, proponents had to fend off several anti-worker amendments.

• An amendment proposed by Rep. Mike Pence, (R-IN) would have eliminated a provision in the bill to designate one seat on the nine-member USPS Board of Governors for a labor representative. It was defeated 345-82.

• An amendment proposed by Rep. Jeff Flake, (R-AZ) to require a five-year pilot program in 20 cities to test alternative delivery services was defeated by a 379-51 vote.

• An amendment by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) to strike language from the bill that would eliminate the current requirement on the Postal Service to pay pension benefits for military time of postal retirees, a $27 billion obligation, was defeated on a voice vote.

Even before the legislation hit the House floor, the NALC and its fellow proponents were successful in blocking any attempt to cut a provision in the bill that would end a requirement that currently requires the Postal Service to place $3.1 billion annually into an escrow account from money it receives because of overpayment into the Civil Service Retirement System.