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DELIVERY OF MAIL BETWEEN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AND THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

The House Post Office offers direct mail delivery between the House offices and the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress to speed the handling of requests from the House offices.

All mail addressed to the Congressional Research Service (CRS) should now be clearly stamped "INSIDE MAIL" and deposited only in boxes designated for "Inside Mail". Letters addressed to the CRS will be collected and delivered by the House Post Office three times each weekday and once on Saturday with return mail from the CRS being picked up at the same time.

The delivery schedule is 9:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. during the week and 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.

In initiating this service, I have been able to prevent delays which often occurred when Library of Congress mail had to be sent first to the City Post Office and sorted, then sent to the House offices.

It is important to point out that if these suggestions are not followed, the mail from the Library cannot be given special handling and, thus, delays may occur.

MESSENGER SERVICE TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT

DIPLOMATIC POUCH

VIA

In order to provide an expedited method of handling Congressional mail going to the State Department and to U. S. Embassies and Missions abroad, the State Department sends a messenger to the House Post Office twice a day to pick up such mail.

To make use of this service, all mail going via the diplomatic pouch should have "VIA DIPLOMATIC POUCH" printed on the lower left-hand corner of the envelope and then should be placed with the Member's regular "inside mail" that is to be picked up. Mail going via the pouch should not be placed

in the mail chutes or boxes.

The messenger makes two stops at the House Post Office mail room Monday through Friday at approximately 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

In the event something needs to be delivered to the State Department in an emergency, please call the Postmaster's Office and we will have a mail clerk deliver it to the State Department directly.

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DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTERS

As most offices and committees send out "DEAR COLLEAGUE" letters, the following guidelines are provided by the House Post Office in an effort to assist in the distribution of the letters with as little delay as possible.

If the Dear Colleague letter is to be distributed to every box in the House, we need approximately 600 copies of the letter.

If the Dear Colleague letter is to be distributed to the Members' offices only, we need approximately 500 copies of the letter.

We can distribute to "Democrats Only" and "Republicans Only" or any other designation. All that is requested is a sufficient amount of copies to cover the distribution.

In order to make the next delivery, we need to receive the Dear Colleague letter at least one-half hour before the delivery. In the event you are on your way but are not within the time frame, please call and we will hold the mail.

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One last request - each Dear Colleague letter needs a cover letter with detailed instructions from either the Congressman or the Chairman requesting that the House Post Office deliver the Dear Colleague letter. In this way, both offices are assured that the Dear Colleague letter going out is properly authorized.

HOUSE POST OFFICE

Mr. ROTA. If it is all right with the Committee, I will use this statement to outline it.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee. The budget for the House Post Office is $1,403,100. We are not asking for any additional men, nor increase, with the exception of $118,400 for mandatory cost of living and longevity increases.

Since 1972 the volume of mail has tripled and the number of buildings served has increased by 50 percent. The number of mail stops served has grown by 61 percent.

On top of all this, we have been able to offer a total of 15 new services with only an increase of less than 3 percent in the number of employees processing the mail from 85 in 1972 to 87 in 1979. The House employs a total of 98 employees, 87 of these are generally classified as mail handlers compared to that of 85 in 1972. Eight operate the X-ray and radiation detection equipment.

Our administrative office consists of the Assistant Postmaster, Elmo Boydston, Chief Stamp Teller, Mary Bowman, and Joanna O'Rourke, Secretary.

In 1977 the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations did a study to estimate the volume of mail received by the House Post Office. At that time they estimated that we received in excess of 100 million items per year.

On the subject of volume, at that time the Joint Committee noted that the Postal Service figures did not include "Dear Colleague" letters, inside mail, mail handled by special carrier services, the Library of Congress, White House, Social Security Administration, State Department, and other executive offices.

Finally and most important, boxes containing thousands of postcards and letters received from the Postal Service are counted as a single unit. Mail delivered by United Parcel Service, Greyhound, Trailways and the airlines is, of course, not counted by the Postal Service.

Mr. Chairman, at this time I would like to show you a sample of the type of mail that we are receiving in cartons at the present time numbering hundreds of thousands and done by direct mailing. The cartons vary. You can get 15,000 cards in a regular paper carton or better. Most times it is more than that.

Mr. BENJAMIN. I am familiar with this card. I think we sent about 50 responses already.

Mr. ROTA. The Postal Service figures actually tell about half the story of the mail received by the House Post Office, but it is useful in comparison to determine the trend of the mail. We would like to be able to give you better figures, but actually we can't. In short, we don't take the time to count it. We deliver it. The 15 cent stamp being the cheapest means of communication between the Members of Congress and his constituents will probably set new records of mail volume in 1980 since it is an election year.

I predict that the mail volume for the year 1980 will be in the neighborhood of approximately 120 million items, if not higher.

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