Postal Service when deciding Postal Union contracts, was added prior to its passage. Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, and Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), chairman of the subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government information, Federal Services and International Security, supported the amendment, and voted with committee Republicans for its adoption. The American Postal Workers Union, National Postal Mail Handlers Union, the NALC and the NRLCA have all voiced opposition to S. 1507 with its inclusion of the arbitrator amendment. American Postal Workers Accident Benefit Association This Association was organized as a fraternal benefit society for railway clerks by five men in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1898. The original name of the association was the National Association of Railway Postal Clerks. The name of the society was changed to Railway Mail Association in 1904, and the National Postal Transport Association in 1949. In 1961 it became the United Federation of Postal Clerks Benefit Association. It adopted its present name in 1972. Membership is open to all members of the American Postal Workers Union who are employed as postal workers. In 1979, there were 23,000 members in 604 local branches. Branch meetings are held concurrently with meetings of the American Postal Workers Union. In addition to insurance benefits, the APW-ABA sponsors blood banks, Boys Scouts troops, conducts drives for community and medical research funds, and visits sick and disabled members. The highest authority is the National Convention, which meets biennially. Headquarters are in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There is a brief initiation ritual, in which the candidate pledges to support the US constitution, the laws of the society, become acquainted with the history of the society and defend its principles. The candidate also pledges "to be considerate to the widow and the orphan; the weak and the defenseless; to defend freedom of thought and expression; and to promote the spirit of fraternity." There are no religious elements in the ritual, though the regular order of business includes provisions for an invocation. In 1979, the American Postal Workers Accident Benefit Association was a member of the National Fraternal Congress of America, however it does not appear on the current list of members of the Congress, now known as the American Fraternal Alliance. Presidents 1971: Francis F. Filbey 1977: Emmet Andrews 1980: Moe Biller 2001: Bill Burrus 2010: Cliff Guffey 2013: Mark Dimondstein See also United