Postal Reform Bills: A Side-by-Side Comparison of H.R. 22 and S. 662

摘要

The 109th Congress is considering two bipartisan bills that would reform the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) H.R. 22 and S. 662. H.R. 22 was introduced and referred to the House Government Reform Committee on the first day of the 109th Congress (January 4, 2005). On April 14, the Government Reform Committee marked up H.R. 22 and approved it by a vote of 39-0. Thereafter, H.R. 22 was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary on April 28, discharged therefrom May 27, and placed on Union Calendar No. 55 that same day. The House passed H.R. 22 on July 26, 2005, by a vote of 420 to 10 and it was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar (Calendar No. 176). S. 662 was introduced into the Senate on March 17, 2005, and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. On June 22, S. 662 was amended and reported by a vote of 15-1. H.R. 22 and S. 662 are similar to two bills from the 108th Congress H.R. 4341 and S. 2468 which cleared committee by unanimous votes but were not brought to the floor. Like these previous bills, H.R. 22 and S. 662 would attempt to make the Postal Service focus on its core mission (universal delivery of the mail) by defining the term postal services. The bills would define the categories of postal services and products as 'competitive' or market-dominant and prohibit the Postal Service from subsidizing competitive products with revenues from market-dominant products.