[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10700]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        PORKER OF THE WEEK AWARD

  (Mr. HEFLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, only a few months after the U.S. Postal 
Service hiked its first-class postal rates, the quasi-Federal agency is 
again set to increase mail costs, this time by as much as 25 to 30 
percent. The hike comes in response to the agency's projected loss of 
$2 to $3 billion this year and a report from its own Inspector General 
that the agency loses approximately $1.4 billion per year in waste and 
abuse.
  Charges of abuse at the Post Office include $200 million worth of 
lavish executive parties, large-scale junkets, high-priced publicity 
campaigns, and generous employee bonuses. The agency managed to rack up 
$9.3 billion in debt by the end of fiscal year 2000, but has yet to put 
in place a repayment program for that debt.
  The American consumer should not have to pay increased mail costs to 
repair inefficiency and waste at the Postal Service. The Postal Service 
gets my porker of the week award.

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