I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1501 
To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide that the United States 
Postal Service may not close, consolidate, or sell any historic postal 
facility without prior congressional approval, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 19, 2015 
Ms. LEE (for herself, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. GRI-
JALVA, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. KEATING, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, 
and Mr. PIERLUISI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide that 
the United States Postal Service may not close, consoli-
date, or sell any historic postal facility without prior 
congressional approval, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Moratorium on United States Postal Facilities Act’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The United States Postal Service is an 
American institution dating back to the colonial era. 
(2) The United States Postal Service is the core 
of a $1 trillion mailing industry that employs more 
than 8 million people. 
(3) In 2013, the United States Postal Service 
processed 158 billion pieces of mail, handled 40 per-
cent of the world’s mail volume, paid $3.6 billion 
every month in salaries and benefits, employed 
104,700 veterans, and managed 31,272 retail of-
fices. 
(4) The United States Postal Service employs a 
Federal preservation officer and a historian. 
(5) The United States Postal Service has a di-
verse fine arts collection consisting of works of art 
from many different sources and programs. 
(6) The United States Postal Service houses 
more than 1,400 murals and sculptures from Presi-
dent Roosevelt’s New Deal programs in its post of-
fices around the Nation. 
(7) Most of the post office works of art were 
funded through commissions under the Treasury De-
partment’s Section of Painting and Sculpture and 
Section of Fine Arts. 
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(8) As of December 2013, 880 postal buildings 
are listed on the National Historic Register. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL REQUIRED FOR CLO-
SURE, CONSOLIDATION, OR SALE OF HIS-
TORIC POSTAL FACILITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404 of title 39, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(f)(1) The Postal Service may not close, consolidate, 
sell, or otherwise dispose of any historic postal facility 
without prior written approval from the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘historic postal facil-
ity’ means any postal facility listed, or eligible to be listed, 
in the National Register of Historic Places.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 404 of 
title 39, United States Code, is further amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(3), by inserting ‘‘con-
sistent with the requirements of subsection (f),’’ be-
fore ‘‘to determine’’; and 
(2) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘The Post-
al Service’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to the require-
ments of subsection (f), the Postal Service’’. 
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(c) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) shall apply to any historic postal facility, in-
cluding any such facility that is listed as for sale by the 
United States Postal Service as of the date of enactment 
of this section. 
Æ 
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