[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 130 (Tuesday, September 15, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H9506-H9507]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ALLOWING UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE TO ACCEPT DONATIONS FOR PLAQUES

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 3137) to amend title 39, United States Code, to provide 
clarification relating to the authority of the United States Postal 
Service to accept donations as an additional source of funding for 
commemorative plaques.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3137

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DONATIONS FOR COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUES.

       (a) In General.--Section 401(7) of title 39, United States 
     Code, is amended by striking ``business;'' and inserting 
     ``business, including monetary donations made (in such manner 
     as the Postal Service may prescribe) for the funding of 
     plaques in connection with the commemorative designation of 
     postal facilities;''.
       (b) Designations.--The donor of a monetary donation 
     described in the amendment made by subsection (a) may specify 
     the postal facility with respect to which such donation is to 
     be used.
       (c) Requirement.--The United States Postal Service shall 
     provide for a suitable plaque, in the case of any postal 
     facility which has been designated by law to commemorate a 
     particular individual, no later than 120 days after the date 
     as of which--
       (1) a law has been enacted providing for the designation of 
     the postal facility involved; and
       (2) sufficient amounts have been received, in the manner 
     described in subsection (b), to provide for such plaque.
     Any donations received by the Postal Service under subsection 
     (b) in excess of the total amount needed in order to provide 
     for a suitable plaque may, with the consent of the donors 
     involved, be used for the funding of a plaque in the case of 
     any other postal facility as to which a law (as described in 
     paragraph (1)) has been enacted.
       (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
     considered--
       (1) to affect the authority of the United States Postal 
     Service with respect to any requirements concerning the 
     design, placement, and limitation on costs relating to 
     commemorative plaques (as described in the preceding 
     provisions of this section), so long as such requirements are 
     applied in a uniform manner; or
       (2) to limit, supersede, or render inapplicable any other 
     authority or duty which (but for this Act) the United States 
     Postal Service would otherwise have had with respect to the 
     commemorative designation of a facility or the funding, 
     commissioning, or installation of a plaque in connection with 
     such a designation.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Towns) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  As chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I am 
pleased to present H.R. 3137 for consideration. This legislation will 
clarify the authority of the United States Postal Service over the 
receipt of monetary donations for post office commemorative plaques. I 
want to commend my ranking member, Congressman Issa, who really, really 
brought this idea forth. I think that it goes into what we are doing. 
We are trying to reserve, we are trying to save money, and I think this 
legislation is a very creative way of being able to do that.
  Congress routinely passes legislation to designate post offices 
throughout the country and honor deserving individuals, and I think 
that is a great idea.
  Under current practice, the United States Postal Service subsequently 
purchases dedicatory plaques, at its own expense, out of the agency's 
operating budget. I think this is something that we will be able to 
eliminate and save money. I think that is one way to do that.
  H.R. 3137 simply seeks to reduce and to eliminate the financial 
burden imposed on the United States Postal Service with regard to the 
purchase of commemorative plaques by clarifying current law in this 
area. Specifically, the legislation would amend the United States Code 
to make clear that the postal service may accept monetary donations 
offered for the funding of postal facility commemorative plaques.

                              {time}  1315

  In addition, H.R. 3137 provides that monetary donors may specify the 
postal facility at which their donations will be used. Moreover, when 
the amount of a donation exceeds the cost of a specified facility's 
commemorative plaque, H.R. 3137 would also allow, with a donor's 
consent, for the use of the excess donations towards the purchase of a 
plaque needed for another postal facility.
  I think that is a great idea. I think it's a very creative way to be 
able to sort of save money and, at the same time, not to have to cut 
back on doing what we know is right based on the fact that they do not 
have the funding.
  On that note, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I thank the chairman for bringing this bill to the floor today. The 
genesis of this bill was in fact a recognition that the Postal Service 
funds all of its operations out of its own revenue. In no other area 
would the Federal Government essentially mandate a burden on a 
government agency over which it provides no funding, and yet here we 
do.
  More importantly, most post offices are either named after fallen 
heroes in our own district, former Members of the House or Senate, or, 
in some cases, other notable people, and even, once in a while, a 
postmaster.
  The fact is we make those decisions. We name those post offices. 
Those plaques cost money to procure and to maintain, and a recognition 
that in fact communities' involvement should be there, there should be 
a real upswelling of support.
  Myself, I named a post office after the first Indo American Member of 
Congress, Dalip Singh Saund. I was proud to do it. And on the day that 
we put the plaque up, I had Members from all over California, and 
actually a few outside of the Indo American community, proud that the 
first Indo American--and the only one, except for Bobby Jindal--was 
being honored at a post office.
  The fact is, that community would have been more than happy to not 
only pay for the plaque, but to help design it and to be more involved 
in it. That kind of support is something that we're missing because we 
didn't take this opportunity.
  The legislation is relatively small. It perhaps would only save a few 
hundred thousand dollars a year to the post office, but I think it 
makes the kind of statement that the post offices and the names on them 
are important community activities and that in the future the 
procurement and perhaps the ongoing support will come from the 
community, with the enabling language here.
  It also is a small but meaningful step toward the kind of reform of 
the post office that they want to do and that we want to help them do, 
and, that is, if they're going to have to live on their own revenue, 
Congress should not be adding to their cost of doing business.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOWNS. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as we all know, the financial condition of the United 
States Postal Service is dismal, at best, and the agency is faced with 
a continually

[[Page H9507]]

declining mail volume. Accordingly, we should all welcome cost-saving 
efforts such as those provided in H.R. 3137, that is not a detriment to 
hardworking postal employees, but rather will only serve to alleviate 
the financial burden of the Postal Service.
  We all name post offices from time to time. I know I named one after 
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to serve in the 
United States Congress. I thought it was a great thing. But, let's face 
it, it cost the Postal Service money in order to be able to get the 
plaque, to get it designed, and to be able to put together an event 
because, after all, that was an important event for the first black 
woman who served in the United States Congress.
  So these are things that cost money that the Postal Service has to 
put up the money for. And I want to congratulate Mr. Issa for 
introducing this legislation because I really think that you might look 
at it as not a giant step or big or tremendous saving, but I see it 
today that every little bit helps. And this, I feel, is really helping.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. I have no further speakers at this time, I would urge all 
Members to vote for the bill, and yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers, but I would like to 
just close by encouraging and urging all of the Members of this House 
to support this legislation. I think this is legislation that truly 
makes a lot of sense, and it sort of does the things that we need to do 
to sort of tighten our belts and work together to be able to bring 
about solutions to solve problems.
  I think this legislation is legislation that points us in the right 
direction, and maybe as result of this we can find other ways to be 
able to bring about savings for the Postal Service.
  I yield back the balance of my time and encourage my colleagues to 
support this legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3137.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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