Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act

POSTAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND ENHANCEMENT ACT -- (House of Representatives - July 26, 2005)

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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Mr. Chairman, Members of the House have worked over a decade to reform this important part of our national culture and economy. I am truly pleased to serve in this Congress which is moving this historic reform forward.

I also want to commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh), the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Davis), and the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman) and their dedicated staffs for their commitment to postal reform and for the bipartisan cooperation to work for its passage.

The gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) deserves particular recognition for his leadership and perseverance with regard to postal reform.

Postal reform is a significant issue for my congressional district as it is for much of America. I represent one of the primary postal hubs in the Midwest, the great city of Chicago. In addition to the 12,000 postal employees who deliver mail daily to 1.2 million homes and businesses in the Chicago area, we have many respected companies like R.R. Donnelley, the largest printing company in North America, that are clients of the Postal Service.

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2005 modernizes the postal system, helping it remain healthy and affordable well into the 21st century. This bill is a delicate compromise that has gone through a series of processes of hearings, meetings and negotiations. We have worked extensively and effectively with administration representatives to address their concerns.

There is something in this bill for everyone. It may not be everything that interest groups desire; however, as the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Tom Davis) has said, it is our best chance at solving the structural, legal and financial constraints that put the Postal Service at risk of catastrophe.

As the Comptroller General recognized this past January, comprehensive postal reform is urgently needed. The Postal Service historically has accumulated billions of dollars in debt and currently has massive unfunded liabilities.

Declining first class mail volumes, high infrastructure-related costs and rigid statutes necessitate reform. It has been 35 years since comprehensive postal reform occurred. It is our responsibility to protect our treasured national asset before it is in crisis. The time for reform is now.

H.R. 22 has many highlights for the Postal Service. It provides the rate-making flexibility and incentives needed to operate as an efficient business. For businesses it provides rate stability, fair competition rules, financial transparency, and procurement protections needed to predict costs and operate on a level playing field. For consumers it preserves universal service, maintains high-quality standards, and eliminates unfair mailing costs so that they have an affordable and reliable means of communication. For workers it protects collective bargaining and offers whistleblower protections that are needed to ensure safe employment. For taxpayers it ensures the viability of a national asset and removes the threat of a taxpayer bail-out of the Postal Service due to financial insolvency.

These are just some of the provisions that will go a long way to helping the Postal Service better serve its customers, compete fairly with the mailing industry and contribute to our Nation.

In addition, I am pleased that the bill requires a study of the number of contracts with women, minorities and small businesses, and that it protects our domestic airlines from outsourcing of jobs to foreign carriers. I represent many members from each of these groups, and it is important that our reforms treat them all fairly. I reiterate that this bill is the best option to protect our treasured national asset before it is in crisis.

I know that the issue of classifying single-piece parcels as competitive or market-dominant has caused a good deal of anxiety for many parties affected by postal reform. I look forward to addressing this issue in conference.

And at this time, Mr. Chairman, I would like to enter into a colloquy with the distinguished chairman of the Government Reform Committee, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis).

Mr. Chairman, section 404 of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act alters paragraph 2 of section 401 of title 39 of the U.S. Code. This section pertains to the rulemaking authority of the United States Postal Service. Obviously the issue of fairness in rulemaking by the Postal Service affects a number of businesses in my district.

I would like to ask the distinguished chairman to clarify how rulemaking by the Postal Service should consider the circumstances within the postal sector.

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