News & information

Update: House floor activity on FSGG next week

On Monday, the House will begin consideration of the Fiscal Year 2015 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill, H.R. 5016, with a vote expected by Wednesday.

In preparation for this House floor activity, the House Rules Committee met to determine the process for floor consideration of H.R. 5016, which passed the House Appropriations Committee at the end of June after a successful battle to have six-day mail delivery language reinserted.

As expected, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, submitted a letter to the Rules Committee requesting removal of two postal provisions (six-day mail and a multinational stamp program) claiming jurisdictional authority by his committee—Washington speak for “Get out of my sandbox.”

In the end, after extensive lobbying efforts, the Rules Committee rejected Issa’s request regarding six-day and it was withdrawn. This small victory against Chairman Issa’s repeated attempts to do away with six-day mail delivery was accomplished in no small part due to the ongoing efforts of NALC activists, who always stand ready on defense.

But as you know, there are no guarantees on the House floor, and we must prepare for potential floor amendments that will inevitably be offered, since the Rules Committee agreed to a “modified open” rule, which subjects the bill to the amendment process.

With at least 225 supporters of six-day mail from both parties, we feel good about our chances—but we must prepare our defense.

Typically, amendments are filed with little notice, so we must be ready for potential amendments and to mobilize quickly. Please be on the lookout for calls to action from the NALC.

Sombrotto Post Office

The House is scheduled to vote on a number of post office namings next week, including H.R. 2291, to designate a Manhattan post office in honor of former NALC President Vincent R. Sombrotto. With luck, we could have this great honor to celebrate at the convention in Philadelphia!