Common Questions About Postage and Stamps

Kevin R. Kosar
Analyst in American National Government

Constituents and interest groups often approach congressional offices with questions about postage and stamps. This report provides brief answers to commonly asked questions and provides sources where congressional staff may learn more about these topics.

The Senate usually has not had rules or policies regarding legislation to establish postage stamps. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform long has had a rule against considering legislation that proposes the issuance of new semipostal and commemorative stamps.


Date of Report: May 20, 2011
Number of Pages: 10
Order Number: RS22611
Price: $29.95

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Support Offices in the House of Representatives: Roles and Authorities

Ida A. Brudnick
Analyst on the Congress

Article I of the Constitution, in Sections 2 and 3, authorizes the House of Representatives and Senate to choose their own officers. The number of such congressional support personnel, as well as their specific responsibilities, is left to the discretion of the chambers. Over time, both chambers have authorized a number of offices that assist them, collectively or individually, in their work.

In the House, these offices include the Clerk of the House, Chief Administrative Officer, Sergeant at Arms, Office of the Legislative Counsel, Office of the Parliamentarian, Office of the Law Revision Counsel, Office of Interparliamentary Affairs, House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards, Office of the Inspector General, Office of General Counsel, House Chaplain, and the Historian of the House. These offices perform legislative, administrative, financial, and ceremonial functions. They also ensure the protection of Congress and preserve its institutional memory.

The roles of House support offices have been established by House Rules, statute, and custom. They are also shaped by the congressional authorities with policy, oversight, and funding responsibilities for the offices. These include the House Appropriations Committee, the House Administration Committee, the House Office Building Commission, and the Office of the Speaker.

This report is an overview of the different roles performed and the organizational authorities that govern the “daily operations” offices in the House of Representatives. Certain entities that assist both the House and Senate, like the Architect of the Capitol, Office of Congressional Accessibility Services, Office of Compliance, the Office of the Attending Physician, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and the Congressional Research Service (CRS), are included in this report, although the focus here is on their services to the House. The report is organized by function, with sections on offices supporting legislative duties; administrative, operational, and financial offices; legal and regulatory offices; ceremonial and historical offices; and security offices. Offices with responsibilities in more than one area are addressed in successive sections. More detailed information on select offices is also available in additional CRS products identified throughout.


Date of Report: May 18, 2011
Number of Pages: 21
Order Number: RL33220
Price: $29.95

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The U.S. Postal Service’s Financial Condition: Overview and Issues for Congress

Kevin R. Kosar
Analyst in American National Government

This report provides an overview of the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS’s) financial condition, legislation enacted to alleviate the USPS’s financial challenges, and possible issues for the 112th Congress.

Since 1971, the USPS has been a self-supporting government agency that covers its operating costs with revenues generated through the sales of postage and related products and services.

In recent years, the USPS has experienced significant financial challenges. After running modest profits from FY2004 through FY2006, the USPS lost $20.4 billion between FY2007 and FY2010. Were it not for congressional action, the USPS would have lost an additional $4 billion in FY2009.

In the first two quarters of FY2011, the USPS ran a deficit of $2.6 billion. The USPS has reported that it will exhaust its borrowing authority in FY2011 and be unable to make a mandatory $5.5 billion Retiree Health Benefits Fund payment on September 30, 2011.

A number of ideas have been advanced that would attempt to improve the USPS’s financial condition in the short term so that it might continue as a self-funding government agency. All of these reforms would require Congress to amend current postal law. The ideas include (1) increasing the USPS’s revenues by altering postage rates and increasing its offering of nonpostal rates and services; and (2) reducing the USPS’s expenses by a number of means, such as recalculating the USPS’s retiree health care and pension obligations and payments, closing postal facilities, and reducing mail delivery to less than six days per week.


Date of Report: May 18, 2011
Number of Pages: 18
Order Number: R41024
Price: $29.95

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Congressional Oversight Manual

Frederick M. Kaiser
Specialist in American National Government

Walter J. Oleszek
Senior Specialist in American National Government

Todd B. Tatelman
Legislative Attorney

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) developed the Congressional Oversight Manual over 30 years ago, following a three-day December 1978 Workshop on Congressional Oversight and Investigations. The workshop was organized by a group of House and Senate committee aides from both parties and CRS at the request of the bipartisan House leadership. The Manual was produced by CRS with the assistance of a number of House committee staffers. In subsequent years, CRS has sponsored and conducted various oversight seminars for House and Senate staff and updated the Manual as circumstances warranted. The last revision occurred in 2007. Worth noting is the bipartisan recommendation of the House members of the 1993 Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress (Rept. No. 103-413, Vol. I):

[A]s a way to further enhance the oversight work of Congress, the Joint Committee would encourage the Congressional Research Service to conduct on a regular basis, as it has done in the past, oversight seminars for Members and congressional staff and to update on a regular basis its Congressional Oversight Manual.

Over the years, CRS has assisted many members, committees, party leaders, and staff aides in the performance of the oversight function, that is, the review, monitoring, and supervision of the implementation of public policy. Understandably, given the size, reach, cost, and continuing growth of the modern executive establishment, Congress’s oversight role is even more significant—and more demanding—than when Woodrow Wilson wrote in his classic Congressional Government (1885): “Quite as important as lawmaking is vigilant oversight of administration.” Today’s lawmakers and congressional aides, as well as commentators and scholars, recognize that Congress’s work, ideally, should not end when it passes legislation. Oversight is an integral way to make sure that the laws work and are being administered in an effective, efficient, and economical manner. In light of this destination, oversight can be viewed as one of Congress’s principal responsibilities as it grapples with the complexities of the 21st century.


Date of Report: May 19, 2011
Number of Pages: 166
Order Number: RL30240
Price: $29.95

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“Sense of” Resolutions and Provisions

Christopher M. Davis
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process

One or both houses of Congress may formally express opinions about subjects of current national interest through freestanding simple or concurrent resolutions (called generically “sense of the House,” “sense of the Senate,” or “sense of the Congress” resolutions). These opinions may also be added to pending legislative measures by amendments expressing the views of one or both chambers. This report identifies the various forms these expressions may take and the procedures governing such actions.


Date of Report: May 20, 2011
Number of Pages: 4
Order Number: 98-825
Price: $19.95

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Congressional Liaison Offices of Selected Federal Agencies

Audrey Celeste Crane-Hirsch
Information Research Specialist

This list of about 150 congressional liaison offices is intended to help congressional offices in placing telephone calls and addressing correspondence to government agencies. In each case, the information was supplied by the agency itself and is current as of the date of publication. Entries are arranged alphabetically in four sections: legislative branch; judicial branch; executive branch; and agencies, boards, and commissions.

Specific telephone numbers for correspondence, publications, and fax transmissions have been provided for each applicable agency. When using fax, it is important to include the entire mailing address on a cover sheet, as many of the listed fax machines are not directly located in the liaison offices. For the convenience of the user, websites are included as well.

A number of agency listings include an e-mail address. When e-mailing agencies please remember to include your name, affiliation, phone number, and return address, to ensure a speedy response. Users should be aware that e-mail is not a confidential means of transmission.


Date of Report: May 18, 2011
Number of Pages: 40
Order Number: 98-446
Price: $29.95

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