President Bush signed into law yesterday a $318 billion defense appropriations bill that includes $500 million for the U.S. Postal Service to screen and sanitize the nation's mail.
The money going to the USPS would pay for additional security measures, not to help the agency make up for any lost revenue from lower mail volume since the Sept. 11 attacks. The bill covers appropriations through Sept. 30, 2002.
Postal officials now have to send a report to Congress to detail exactly how they will spend the $500 million.
