Senate OKs Compromise on Congress Newsletters

The Senate today sent President Bush a bill to save congressional newsletters, reversing a previous vote to ban the mailings that had touched off a congressional civil war.

The compromise, negotiated earlier in a bitter House-Senate conference, was adopted by voice vote and will halve the number of unsolicited mass mailings from six to three per lawmaker.

On Sept. 7, in an action that enraged the House, senators voted 88 to 7 for an amendment to ban the mass mailings and give the estimated $45 million in savings to a treatment program for pregnant women with drug addictions.

But senators knew that vote was preliminary and, faced with nearly identical language today, they voted 66 to 29 to kill the proposal by Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.). The lawmakers then adopted the $1.9-billion appropriations bill for congressional operations that includes the compromise mail provisions.

The mailings in question, usually newsletters, are addressed to postal patrons rather than to individual constituents and increase greatly during election years.

The September Senate vote to ban the mailings led to ruffled feelings that saw members of each house threaten--and back off--from proposals to change the other’s rules.

Senators didn’t like the idea that only their rules require disclosure of mailing costs by each member and sought to force House disclosure.

House members threatened to retaliate by trying to end senators’ use of money from honorariums, political action committees and party campaign committees for office expenses. House rules prohibit such expenditures.

In the end, the compromise sent to the White House includes a package of reforms.