[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 54 (Tuesday, May 5, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H2750-H2751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       LEADERSHIP OF USPS FUMBLING ONE OPPORTUNITY AFTER ANOTHER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, I came to Congress as somebody 
predisposed to support our Postal Service. I believe we have some of 
the finest men and women in the world delivering the mail, playing an 
important part in communities in many small and important ways. But the 
leadership and management of the Postal Service is fumbling one 
opportunity after another.
  One example is their years of insensitivity to relocation issues. 
Because of the tremendous concern expressed by people in communities 
across the country, I have introduced legislation to prevent the Postal 
Service managers from unilaterally abandoning historical buildings and 
moving to strip malls at the edge of town; that they must obey local 
land use planning and building codes and give local citizens as much 
say in how the post office relates to their community as which Elvis 
stamp we are going to have.
  If I ever needed additional evidence that the management of the 
Postal Service is out of touch with America, the evidence was delivered 
to my office last week. The Postal Service notified me that it is going 
to get tough with the Portland Marathon, the largest volunteer marathon 
in America, which raised over $600,000 last year to benefit the special 
Olympics, schools, service groups, the Leukemia Society, and many other 
charities.
  By letter, the Postal Service said that it has decided, despite a 
perfect record on the part of the Portland Marathon, no prior 
violations or complaints, despite an illegal search of the Marathon 
files by its postal inspectors; despite the preapproval of all the 
Marathon's mailings by representatives of the Postal Service, that the 
Portland Marathon, this group of dedicated volunteers, must pay a 
$5,000 fine or face Federal trial.
  What terrible scheme inspired the Postal Service to clamp down on the 
Marathon? What scheme so horrible that the Postal Service will pursue a 
case while paying many times the cost it will ever recover from the 
Marathon if it wins? What terrible scheme requires the Postal Service 
to bring down its full force on this dedicated volunteer organization 
without so much as a warning, with no exceptions or adjustments?
  The Portland Marathon offered T-shirts and other memorabilia to some

[[Page H2751]]

runners without indicating an identification statement in some of its 
mailings.

                              {time}  1300

  Somehow the U.S. Postal Service seems to have adopted the attitude 
that in its new status as a quasipublic agency, it is free to be dumb, 
rigid, and engage in behavior which wastes the resources of a dedicated 
group of volunteers.
  In the words of the fabled gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant), 
``Beam me up, Madam Speaker.''

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