[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 111 (Friday, August 7, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1586-E1587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE NEED FOR POSTAL REFORM

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                          HON. JAMES T. WALSH

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 6, 1998

  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express concern about the 
continual rise in postal rates by the U.S. Postal Service. The recent

[[Page E1587]]

decision by the Board of Governors to increase the price of a postage 
stamp is questionable in lieu of the fact that the Postal Service has 
made a profit of over $6 billion in the last four years.
  Clearly, we need to exercise the oversight function of Congress more 
vigorously in the future. I want to congratulate my good friend, 
Representative John McHugh, Chairman of the Government Reform 
Subcommittee on Postal Service for his diligence in this oversight 
arena. However, he cannot do the job alone. Congress needs to be more 
vigilant in ensuring that we exercise our oversight responsibilities. 
In that regard, I would like to include in the record a column by the 
President of the United Postal Service, James P. Kelly on the operation 
of the Postal Service. Reading and taking notice of Mr. Kelly's words 
is a good start in helping Congress to become more aware of the Postal 
Service problems.

               [From the Washington Times, July 15, 1998]

                           The Mail Monopoly

                            (By James Kelly)

       The woman on the other end of the phone sounds frightened 
     and angry. She owns a small Parcel Plus store in Maryland and 
     just found out that the United States Postal Service is 
     opening up shop right around the corner. She's worried that 
     the arrival of the Postal Service will put her own small 
     store out of business and wants to know what she can do about 
     it. She has reason to be scared.
       In the past, the opening of a local post office wouldn't 
     raise an eyebrow. But that was before the Postal Service 
     began targeting private-sector companies with predatory 
     pricing on services and products that few businesses can 
     match. The business owner in Maryland knows she can't compete 
     with a government agency that enjoys huge advantages not 
     available to private-sector companies. Her plight is but one 
     example of why the Postal Service needs significant reform.
       Most Americans agree that fair competition is necessary for 
     a healthy economy and a strong private sector. At our 
     company, we have embraced competition and believe it makes us 
     a smarter, stronger, more responsive business. But the Postal 
     Service represents something that no competitor should have 
     to face--a government monopoly that is able to use its 
     government-granted advantages to unfairly undermine its 
     private-sector competitors. In this age of government reform 
     and downsizing, the Postal Service is the poster child for 
     needed government reform.
       Most Americans don't know that the Postal Service pays no 
     taxes, local, state or federal, pays no vehicle licensing 
     fees, is exempt from OSHA enforcement, can ignore zoning 
     regulations, and is immune from anti-trust accountability. 
     These advantages would not be of much concern if it weren't 
     for the fact that the Postal Service is using them like a 
     weapon in the marketplace to beat out private-sector 
     businesses. That is simply, unequivocally not the role of 
     government.
       One particularly egregious example of how the Postal 
     Service is able to use revenue from its monopoly on first-
     class mail to subsidize products that compete with the 
     private sector is obvious. The Postal Service charges $26.63 
     to ship a 10-pound package from San Francisco to London via 
     Global Package Link. But the agency charges $29.80 to ship 
     that same package Express mail from Washington, D.C. to 
     Baltimore, Maryland.
       Common sense tells us that a package shipped across a 
     continent and over the Atlantic Ocean should cost more than a 
     package shipped 35 miles up I-95. But the Postal Service vice 
     keeps its Global Package Link prices artificially low with 
     revenue from its letter mail monopoly, with which private 
     businesses are prohibited from competing. This pricing 
     disparity is particularly puzzling given that the private-
     sector charges an average of $110 to ship a 10-pound 
     expedited package from San Francisco to London.
       Now consumers are being asked to pay an additional billion 
     dollars through a penny increase in the price of a stamp. Why 
     is the Postal Service asking for another billion dollars 
     every year when the agency has generated more than a billion 
     dollars in surplus every year for the past three years and is 
     doing so again this year?
       If the Postal Service were truly committed to its mandate 
     of providing universal letter mail service,why is it entering 
     into numerous other activities wholly unrelated to this 
     mission? The Postal Service is now processing bill, selling 
     mugs, T-shirts and hats, and is hawking telephone cards. What 
     does this have to do with delivering the mail? Absolutely 
     nothing. In fact, it forces the Postal Service to lose focus 
     on its primary mission.
       It is painfully obvious that reform is desperately needed. 
     Congress is working this year to craft fair legislation that 
     would level the playing field for the Postal Service. Any 
     reform bill must require the agency to abide by the same laws 
     as the private sector when competing with private businesses. 
     Postal reform must remove the massive advantages enjoyed by 
     the Postal Service so that real competition can provide 
     consumers with real choice. At the same time, the Postal Rate 
     Commission, the Postal Service's oversight body, must be 
     given real authority to regulate the agency both domestically 
     and internationally.
       Congress must act quickly to level the playing field so the 
     Postal Service can focus on delivering mail--not delivering 
     small business owners into the unemployment line.

     

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