By Bill McAllister, Washington Correspondent

The United States Postal Service bowed to Congress and reversed its plans to take the Save Vanishing Species semipostal stamp (Scott B4) off sale Dec. 31, 2020.

Postal Service spokesman Roy Betts announced the decision Dec. 29, saying it came after stamp officials reviewed the COVID-19 relief measure passed by Congress Dec. 21.

When the decision to end sales of the semipostal was made, President Donald Trump had suggested he might not sign the bill because he wanted it to give larger payments to individuals suffering during the current pandemic.

In a surprise move, the president signed the bill Dec. 27. It specifically directed the Postal Service to continue sales of the stamp, first issued in 2011.

Betts, who had announced the decision to remove the stamp from sale on Dec. 24, did not say how long the stamp might remain on sale.

The relief measure did not specify a date for sales to end. It was, however, direct in its instructions to the Postal Service.

“That the Postal Service may not destroy, and shall continue to offer for sale, any copies of the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp, as authorized under the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–241),” the measure said, referring to the law that authorized the Save Vanishing Species semipostal stamp.

The semipostal features an Amur tiger cub and has raised more than $6.1 million for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to the USPS website.

The Postal Service has made no comment on the COVID-19 legislation, which provides the USPS with $10 billion to pay for its pandemic-related expenses.

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