United States House Committee on Post Office and Post Roads

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The United States House Committee on Post Office and Post Roads was a congressional committee that existed until 1946. A Select Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads was established in 1806 and made a standing committee in 1808 during the 10th Congress. The early membership of the committee consisted of one Member from each state. [1]

The jurisdiction of the committee extended to all proposed legislation relating to the carrying of the mails, both foreign and domestic. It included the determination of the location, construction, and maintenance of post offices and post roads; the acquisition, lease, or transfer of realty or facilities for postal purposes; and certain aspects of the employment and management of postal employees, such as the pay and leave of letter carriers, and the settlement of claims brought by employees or contractors. It included the regulation of the Postal Service, including postal rates, the franking privilege, and the printing of stamped envelopes. At various times the Railway Mail Service, ocean mail service, pneumatic tube service, postal savings banks, postal telegraphy, the Air Mail Service, and Rural Free Delivery were included in its jurisdiction. [1]

As part of its responsibility the committee investigated the management of postal facilities, contracts for carrying the mail, and other subjects such as the forgery of postal money orders. [1]

In 1885 the jurisdiction of the committee was expanded to include appropriation authority. The committee prepared Post Office appropriations bills from that time until 1920 when the authority was revoked under a rule change. The committee functioned until 1946 (the 79th Congress) when its jurisdiction was included in that of the new House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. [1]

Chairmen

ChairPartyStateStart of ServiceEnd of Service
John Rhea Democratic-RepublicanTennessee18071815
Samuel D. Ingham Democratic-RepublicanPennsylvania18151818
Arthur Livermore Democratic-RepublicanNew Hampshire18181821
Francis Johnson Democratic-RepublicanKentucky18211823
John Telemachus Johnson Democratic-RepublicanKentucky18231825
Samuel D. Ingham JacksonianPennsylvania18251828
Samuel McKean JacksonianPennsylvania18281829
Richard Mentor Johnson JacksonianKentucky18291832
Henry William Connor JacksonianNorth Carolina18321839
James Iver McKay DemocraticNorth Carolina18391841
George N. Briggs WhigMassachusetts18411843
George Washington Hopkins DemocraticVirginia18431847
William L. Goggin WhigVirginia18471849
Emery D. Potter DemocraticOhio18491851
Edson B. Olds DemocraticOhio18511855
Daniel Mace OppositionIndiana18551857
William Hayden English DemocraticIndiana18571859
Schuyler Colfax RepublicanIndiana18591863
John B. Alley RepublicanMassachusetts18631867
John F. Farnsworth RepublicanIllinois18671873
John Black Packer RepublicanPennsylvania18731875
John Bullock Clark Jr. DemocraticMissouri18751877
Alfred Moore Waddell DemocraticNorth Carolina18771879
Hernando Money DemocraticMississippi18791881
Henry H. Bingham RepublicanPennsylvania18811883
Hernando Money DemocraticMississippi18831885
James Henderson Blount DemocraticGeorgia18851889
Henry H. Bingham RepublicanPennsylvania18891891
John S. Henderson DemocraticNorth Carolina18911895
Eugene F. Loud RepublicanCalifornia18951903
Jesse Overstreet RepublicanIndiana19031909
John W. Weeks RepublicanMassachusetts19091911
John A. Moon DemocraticTennessee19111919
Halvor Steenerson RepublicanMinnesota19191923
William Walton Griest RepublicanPennsylvania19231929
Archie D. Sanders RepublicanNew York19291931
James M. Mead DemocraticNew York19311938
Milton A. Romjue DemocraticMissouri19391943
Thomas G. Burch DemocraticVirginia19431946
George D. O'Brien DemocraticMichigan19461947

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Chapter 16. Records of the Post Office and Civil Service Committee and Its Predecessors". Guide to the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989 (Record Group 233). National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 26, 2016.

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