USPS seeks anti-terrorism funds

Postmaster General John Potter appealed to Congress on Thursday to provide anti-terrorism funds the Bush administration failed to include in its budget for next year. Potter asked for $779 million to help the agency buy and install systems to detect biological agents and poisons, and new ventilation and filtration systems, in 282 mail handling centers across the country. The Bush budget did not include any funds for those uses, although Potter pointed out that the mail has been used for both anthrax attacks and, more recently, to send the poison ricin. Two postal workers have died of anthrax. Potter said his agency has developed the new detection and filtration systems and test installations are under way in Baltimore and Cleveland. The current systems are designed to test for anthrax, he said, but improvements are being made to test for a variety of other likely materials. The post office has already signed contracts for more than $300 million of the requested money, Potter said, and if it is not provided, the agency will have to add the spending in when planning postal rate increases in the future. The equipment needs to be installed to assure the safety of postal workers and the public, Potter told the House Appropriations subcommittee on independent agencies. Potter also asked for restoration of an expected $29 million annual payment for services previously provided by the agency. Congress, faced with a $1.2 billion bill for previous postal services, voted in 1993 to pay off that debt at $29 million-a-year, interest free, through 2035. The Bush Administration failed to include the amount in its budget request, however. Potter said that if the money is not provided, accounting practices will require the post office to write off the remaining $900 million owed to the agency by the government as a bad debt, significantly increasing postal costs. And, Potter added, the administration only included $61.7 million to cover the cost of free mail for the blind and voting materials for Americans overseas, though the agency estimates its cost of providing those services at $75.9 million. Overall postal operations do not receive a federal subsidy, but are paid for out of revenue generated by the agency, with the only usual federal payments being for the free mail services and repayment of past amounts owed.