[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 27, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1636-E1637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               POSTAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND ENHANCEMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 26, 2005

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under

[[Page E1637]]

     consideration the bill (H.R. 22) to reform the postal laws of 
     the United States, with Mr. Simpson in the chair.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 22, The 
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.
  In 1775, Members of the Second Continental Congress established the 
Post Office Department, the predecessor of the Postal Service and the 
second oldest federal department or agency in the United States. For 
the past two centuries, the United States Postal Service has evolved 
and changed as the United States has grown. Today the Postal Service 
delivers hundreds of minions of messages each day to more than 141 
million homes and businesses. Still, the Postal Service is experiencing 
economic loss because of the decrease in first class mail volume due to 
the high usage of e-mail and faxes and the increase in operating costs 
as the number of addresses to which the Postal Service must deliver are 
growing everyday.
  For the past couple of decades, Members of the House Government 
Reform Committee have worked together to create legislation to reform 
the Postal Service. The bill that we have before us today is a 
compilation of hard work and bipartisan effort that includes a variety 
of interests such as large financial mailers, mail-dependent small 
businesses, magazine publishers, postal competitors, unions and 
consumer organizations. H.R. 22 provides for a comprehensive overhaul 
of the financial operations, rate structure, and civil service policies 
that currently govern the United States Postal Service. It is important 
to note that this bill today is not only a work of bipartisan 
congressional action, but it is the product of labor unions and 
management, postal employees and businesses, working together to make 
compromises to make postal reform a reality.
  Protecting collective bargaining rights, ensuring six-day a week 
postal delivery and demanding that postal workers receive the best 
federal employee healthcare are all important provisions that were 
included in this bill to benefit postal workers. H.R. 22 is a tribute 
to the countless letter carriers and postal employees who have been 
committed for many years to reforming the USPS. I have spent hours 
walking mail routes with the letter carriers in my home state of New 
Jersey. I have seen first hand how dedicated postal employees are to 
ensuring the timely and safe delivery of mail to their local 
communities. These letter carriers should be applauded for their 
service to all Americans.
  I am proud to have been a cosponsor of the Postal Accountability and 
Enhancement Act and am pleased that my colleagues have finally brought 
this to the House floor. The United States Postal Service is the knit 
between communities across America and I ask my colleagues to pass this 
meaningful postal reform legislation for all Americans.

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