[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 21632-21636]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE FINANCIAL RELIEF ACT OF 2009

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 22) to amend chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code, to allow 
the United States Postal Service to pay its share of contributions for 
annuitants' health benefits out of the Postal Service Retiree Health 
Benefits Fund, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 22

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``United States Postal Service 
     Financial Relief Act of 2009''.

     SEC. 2. GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS FOR POSTAL ANNUITANTS' 
                   HEALTH BENEFITS.

       (a) In General.--Clause (iii) of section 8909a(d)(3)(A) of 
     title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
       ``(iii) $1,400,000,000, not later than September 30, 
     2009;''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect as if included in the enactment of section 
     803(a)(1)(B) of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act 
     (Public Law 109-435; 120 Stat. 3251).

     SEC. 3. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

       The heading for section 8909a of title 5, United States 
     Code, is amended by striking ``BENEFIT'' and inserting 
     ``BENEFITS''.

  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, H.R. 22, the United States Postal Service 
Financial Relief Act of 2009, as amended, would permit the United 
States Postal Service to lower its 2009 payment into the retirement 
health benefit fund, $5.4 billion, reduce it to $1.4 billion. This bill 
does not provide any taxpayer funds to the Postal Service. In essence, 
H.R. 22 is intended to provide the Postal Service with some relief from 
its current financial crisis by lowering the amount of its 2009 payment 
due. The measure has been properly vetted and amended by the House 
Oversight Committee, in line with calls for a more fiscally responsible 
government. The bill, as amended, does not score.
  The bill enjoys the support of 339 Members of the House from both 
parties. I would like to thank Representatives McHugh of New York and 
Davis of Illinois for introducing this bill and for their hard work and 
patience in navigating the bill through the House. Further, I would 
like to thank the House Democratic leadership and the Budget Committee 
for working with us to help advance the bill to the floor.

                              {time}  1245

  Also I would like to thank and recognize Chairman Lynch of 
Massachusetts for his leadership on the subcommittee and being a 
tireless advocate for the postal service and all of its employees. 
Unfortunately, Chairman Lynch could not be with us today, but his 
statement will be in the Record.
  Additionally, I would like to thank the gentleman from California, 
Congressman Issa, for his support and strong work on this bill. Also 
Congressman Chaffetz for his work as well. I would like to recognize 
them because this is truly bipartisan support for this important 
legislation, which I think is so important.
  The United States Postal Service is regularly acknowledged to be 
among the most trusted of the Federal agencies in part due to the 
positive relationship that its approximately 625,000 employees develop 
with local communities. The postal service is often the only Federal 
presence in many of the urban and rural areas throughout the United 
States, and it is often the face of the Federal Government.
  Yet despite the best efforts of its employees, the postal service 
faces financial challenges unlike at any other time. Mail volumes have 
declined at a record pace, falling by 7 million pieces during the third 
quarter of fiscal year 2009, 14.3, compared to the same period last 
year. In fact, volume continued to fall for all types of mail: first 
class, standard, periodical, and also package services. The postal 
service ended the third quarter ending in 2009 with a loss of $2.4 
billion, its year-to-date net loss through the third quarter at $4.7 
billion.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the introduction of this bill on January 6, the first 
legislative day, was appropriate. This is a problem for an 
organization, the United States Post Office, which is, in fact, 15 
times larger than General Motors. The United States Post Office is not 
only a constitutional obligation but, in fact, an organization which 
has existed for the service of the United States of America since our 
founding.
  But since the 1970s, the United States Post Office has had a problem. 
The problem is our own success. Alternate efficiencies have reduced the 
need for the United States Post Office to deliver mail. Invoices, 
payments, and certainly many other emails instead of paper mails are 
being delivered electronically today. The United States Post Office is 
also suffering from a recession that we all are suffering under.
  Therefore, the committee has worked on a bipartisan basis to 
recognize that we must reform the post office again. Having just passed 
the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act in 2006, we are faced 
with another crisis; but rather than having that crisis lead to 
haphazard reductions, the chairman and I have worked together with 
Members on both sides of the aisle, as the chairman said, 339 
cosponsors, to create a soft landing for the post office.
  It will not be that soft, Mr. Speaker. It will, in fact, require that 
they accelerate the reduction in their force. It will require that they 
look at all costs and services. It will require without a doubt the 
closing of post offices around our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, as you know, these are difficult decisions. They are 
both financial and they're political. They impact the communities who 
have for so

[[Page 21633]]

long allowed people to go to their corner post office to maintain a 
postal mailbox, to do other services. These services will be further 
away in the future.
  So for that reason, although I would have preferred a major reform, I 
would have preferred that we were able to do some of these hard steps, 
I'm supporting an alternate course, one in which we use these last 2 
weeks and only these last 2 weeks of the fiscal year to move this bill 
with a cost, as the chairman said, of zero because there is so little 
time left in the year. However, we are committed on this side of the 
aisle and I know the chairman shares this, to work with the postal 
service to find ways to reduce their costs, their overhead, and many of 
the legacy items that today make it difficult.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to repeat something the chairman said because 
it's noteworthy for my conservative friends. The post office's money 
that we are talking about today is the money they have put aside. This 
is the only agency that works in this way. So although this could have 
scored, it does not score, and although people will often say that we 
are being fiscal conservatives if we vote against this, the truth is 
the postal service operates within its own funds. The funds that will 
be used in H.R. 22 are their funds. Ultimately the American people will 
look to the post office to make the corrections. This committee on a 
bipartisan basis will oversee the post office to see that they come in 
line for the future so they continue to operate on their own revenue 
and not on any revenue provided by Congress.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I hope my friends are listening. I hope this will go 
far behind the 339 cosponsors, and I hope that everyone on both sides 
of the aisle will put down their mark today to make sure that we commit 
ourselves working with the post office to do the necessary reforms so 
we will not be back here again in the same way next year.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to first yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay).
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. I want to 
also thank the chairman and the ranking member as well as the House 
leadership for shepherding this bill to the floor.
  This substitute amendment to H.R. 22 is sorely needed to partially 
relieve the U.S. Postal Service of an oversize payment of $5.4 billion 
to a Retiree Health Benefits Fund. The postal service under this 
legislation will pay $1.4 billion.
  The postal service is suffering the same effects of this recession as 
the rest of the Nation. Without legislative relief, the postal service 
will default on a $5.4 billion payment due on September 30.
  This bill is not a bailout, as no taxpayer funds will be provided to 
the postal service. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act 
required the postal service to prefund the cost of health care benefits 
for future retirees. No other government agency or private company is 
required to prefund retiree benefits on such an aggressive or ambitious 
schedule.
  The postal service operates on revenues from sales of its products 
and services. The postal service has already embarked on cost-cutting 
estimated to be $6 billion in fiscal year 2009, by cutting work hours, 
freezing hiring, and closing administrative offices.
  The postal service has paid $10 billion into the trust fund over the 
past 2 years, although it's suffered combined losses of $7.9 billion 
during that 2-year period.
  This bill is in line with the actions of many large businesses, 
including their competitors, which have temporarily reduced or 
suspended payments for retiree benefits or pensions during the 
recession.
  Again, I thank the chairman for yielding.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, at this time it is my honor to yield 2 minutes 
to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz), a member of the committee.
  Mr. CHAFFETZ. I want to thank Chairman Towns and I want to thank 
Ranking Member Issa for the bipartisan support and effort to move this 
bill forward. It's an important piece of legislation.
  H.R. 22 is needed to avoid a taxpayer-funded bailout to the United 
States Postal Service. The United States Postal Service is the only 
Federal entity required to prefund its pension and retiree health 
plans. H.R. 22 would enable the United States Postal Service to use its 
existing revenues that have been funded over the years through its own 
operations to pay for retiree health benefits as opposed to using this 
year's operating revenues.
  While the United States Postal Service needs to continue to reduce 
costs, one of the impressive things that has happened is that they have 
reduced their workforce by 22 percent since 1999, a 22 percent 
reduction in their workforce since 1999, compared to a 13 percent 
increase in the Federal workforce in other parts of the government.
  The main driver of the United States Postal Service debt has been the 
2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act's requirement to prefund 
80 percent of its future retiree health benefit costs, a 75-year 
liability, in just 10 years. No other business or government entity in 
the United States does that. Had it not been for this prefunding, the 
United States Postal Service would actually have shown a profit, and 
that's why I think you see broad bipartisan support with 339 cosponsors 
on this bill in support of H.R. 22.
  I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this 
so that we can avoid a taxpayer bailout that would be needed.
  Finally, let me just mention the good men and women who work so hard, 
so diligently, that care so much. My hat's off to them for the good 
work that they do for this country and the United States Postal 
Service.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Washington, D.C. (Ms. Norton).
  Ms. NORTON. I rise with great thanks to our chairman and our ranking 
member, who worked so well together on this really essential bill.
  Mr. Speaker, we have rescued a lot of private sector agencies, a 
whole slew of them. But here comes the postal service not asking for a 
bailout. Understand that we don't even subsidize the postal service, 
even though it is the only Federal agency mentioned in the 
Constitution. So it's a Federal agency we must have, mandated by the 
Constitution.
  Yet alone among government agencies, if you want to consider an 
agency that funds itself out of its own revenue a government agency 
just because it's in the Constitution, alone the Postal Service is 
required to prefund its retiree health benefits. Not us, mind you. No 
Federal agency has got to do that. And how does the Postal Service 
prefund? From postal funds.
  I don't think you need to read the papers every day to know what has 
happened to postal funds. These folks have had to put up $10 billion in 
prefunding in the past couple of years out of postal funds; yet this is 
a failing business. It's not a failing business because of its policies 
or practices. The Postal Service has been overtaken by the fax; 
overtaken by emails.
  They're not like Wall Street, which went into a deliberate mode of 
greed. I don't care what kind of genius you are, you're going to have a 
hard time if you're the postal service, which must exist under our 
Constitution, to figure out how you're going to stay in business.
  Yet in the past year alone, look at the kind of hits this institution 
has taken, not mandated by us: your mail carrier, almost 11,500; rural 
carriers, 753 gone; mail handlers, 2,938 gone. In the last 10 years, 
the postal service has lost 175,000 employees. Show me a business that 
is left standing, having taken those kinds of hits not because it's 
overspending but for reasons, some of which are beyond its control.
  Now the chairman, the ranking member, the whole committee is on their 
case for even further cuts, but the American people are on our case to 
make sure that their mail keeps being delivered and that their trusted 
postal worker is always there.

                              {time}  1300

  We shouldn't ask more from the post office in prefunding retiree 
benefits at

[[Page 21634]]

a time when I believe you could find nobody in the United States who is 
prefunding.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.
  I would like to comment on the Delegate's statement because it is 
quite true. Just in the last approximately 18 months, we have added 
almost 200,000 net Federal workers on the Federal side. The post office 
is continuing to reduce its workforce, anticipating reducing its 
workforce by about 30,000, or more than 5 percent per year. We have to 
do better.
  I look forward to working with the majority on finding ways that we 
can integrate more postal workers into other Federal opportunities so 
we can retain these good Federal servants, but at the same time right-
size the post office.
  Having said that, it is very clear, as Ms. Norton said, that only the 
post office is really cutting itself in the Federal Government, and 
that is an unusual situation. They are right-sizing themselves, and I 
hope all of our Members will be sensitive that we have to right-size 
them at a rate that allows our high quality service to continue.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New 
York (Mrs. Maloney), a member of the committee.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Thank you, Chairman Towns, for yielding and for your 
leadership on this important issue and in so many other areas, and I 
thank the ranking member.
  This bill actually saves taxpayers money. This is not a bailout as we 
have seen before this Congress many times. No taxpayer funds will be 
provided to the postal service. The service operates on revenues from 
sales of its products and services, and it receives appropriations only 
in reimbursement for free services for the blind and other services.
  The post office remains the only government agency or private company 
that is required to prefund retiree benefits on such an aggressive 
schedule. The fund now currently contains over $32 billion.
  This amendment to H.R. 22 will lower the payment for 2009 to a level 
that is close to that recommended by the IG, and it will prevent the 
post office from defaulting on a $5.4 billion payment due on September 
30. Even with the lower payment for 2009, after including the payments 
for 2007 and 2008, the postal service will be on track to prefund the 
trust fund through 2016 by over $9 billion, more than the IG's 
recommendation.
  This bill is long overdue. It is good government, and I strongly 
support it.
  Mr. ISSA. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I would like to yield 2 minutes 
to the gentleman from Chicago, Illinois (Mr. Davis).
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank the 
chairman for yielding me this time. I also want to commend him and the 
ranking member and the members of the subcommittee for the great work 
that they have done on this bill.
  I am very pleased to be a cosponsor, an original cosponsor of H.R. 
22. I am basically pleased to have been so because for a number of 
years we have known that the postal service was operating in a 
different environment. We have seen the tremendous increase in e-
commerce. We have seen the utilization of other means and methods of 
communicating, and we have always known we were going to have to do 
something.
  The something we have done does not cost the taxpayers any additional 
money. As Delegate Norton said, it is not a bailout. It is a sane, 
rational approach to dealing with the problem, and I want to commend 
the postal service for their efforts to operate in an environment of 
diminishing returns.
  So, again, I commend the chairman and the ranking member. I strongly 
support this legislation.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire from the chairman how 
many more speakers he has.
  Mr. TOWNS. I have one more speaker and the right to close.
  Mr. ISSA. I reserve the balance of my time to close before the 
chairman closes.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Houston, Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Let me thank the distinguished chairman for 
yielding me this time and thank him and the ranking member for what I 
believe is an astute and important statement on behalf of the United 
States Postal Service and all of its thousands upon thousands of 
hardworking postal workers.
  H.R. 22 is an effective approach to an organization which has served 
this Nation for decades, and one which we have respected and has served 
in many different capacities; the idea of reducing the payment that the 
postal service has to contribute to the health benefits trust fund from 
$5.4 billion to $1.4 billion, added to their already established 
resources, allowing them, without taxpayer dollars, to work on some of 
the new trends that we are facing all over America, new technology and 
the utilization of e-mail.
  No one can doubt the service of the postal service workers and the 
importance of neighborhood post offices. Frankly, Mr. Speaker, I am 
hoping there will be a modified review of post offices and a respect of 
neighborhoods and rural communities and urban centers where postal 
services are very important.
  Many people use money orders. I know some of us would probably wonder 
about the utilization of those kinds of financial documents, but they 
are important to certain economic levels of our communities. Many 
people go to the post office to pick up their mail. They have a post 
office box. Many companies, for other reasons of commerce, use the 
postal service as opposed to an e-mail. Sometimes a paper written 
document is necessary.
  I would like to thank the committee for looking intelligently at this 
issue, and I wanted to rise today to support H.R. 22, as amended, and 
to particularly salute the postal workers of America who have worked 
with me side by side in Houston who have been part of the postal food 
giveaway. They do a lot. I am very glad to have been an original 
cosponsor of this bill.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  All that need be said has more or less been said. This is necessary. 
It scores no cost. It is a reality of our recession and the ongoing 
reduction in the number of pieces of mail being carried by the post 
office. I might note in closing, the United Parcel Service, FedEx, DHL 
and others have experienced even greater reductions in their package 
carrying. That is part of this recession. This recession will end. But 
when this recession ends, the use of email and advertising over the 
Internet rather than your mailbox will continue.
  So I look forward to working with the chairman. He and I have forged 
a very good relationship on these bipartisan issues. We need to create 
the right size postal system. We need to convert and retain postal 
workers as Federal employees where there are opportunities. That is 
what we really need the time to do.
  As the chairman and I close, I want to urge all of my colleagues to 
understand, I am putting down a marker here today that I will not be 
bringing back the exact same bill next year simply to forestall it. We 
will monitor the usage at the post office and work with them, work with 
the Postmaster, and we will work with each other to make sure that we 
begin in a very, very quick order the kinds of reforms that may cost 
money but ultimately will right-size the post office.
  That is a commitment the American people expect us to make and one we 
will make. But at the same time, I recognize that the postal service is 
right-sized to perform an incredibly important constitutional duty, one 
that none of us would want to see go away. Certainly at a time when a 
number of States have gone to postal voting, they now represent a key 
element of democracy even beyond what they have historically done.
  I thank the chairman for this bipartisan work, and I thank Mr. McHugh 
who could not be here today for his relentless support and work. I urge 
strong support that we vote this out of the House on a unanimous basis.

[[Page 21635]]

  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Let me just say, I am really proud that we have come to this moment 
to move this bill forward. I want to thank the ranking member, 
Congressman Issa for his work, and thank Congressman Lynch and 
Congressman Chaffetz and all of the people who have worked so hard on 
this, and especially the staff on both sides of the aisle for their 
work, and to say to you, yes, we still have some more work to do. There 
is no question about it, because the problem has not been solved, but 
at least we are able to get to this point. We agree to continue to work 
to try to bring about a solution. Let's face it, we owe it to the 
postal workers to be able to try to assist them in finding a solution 
to this problem.
  There is a recession. There is no question about it. We need to make 
some adjustments. What we are doing here is not costing the government 
any money. This is just being creative, recognizing the fact that 
something needs to be done, and we are doing that. So here again, on 
that note, I want to thank all of the committee for working with me on 
it. We will be back again trying to see how we can come about with a 
total solution to this problem.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the proud sponsor of H.R. 
22, a bipartisan bill with 339 cosponsors that would provide immediate 
but temporary financial relief to the Postal Service. As a Member who 
has closely followed postal legislative issues for more than 14 years, 
I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation. I thank the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) and the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Issa) for their work to bring this legislation to the floor today.
  As every Member of Congress and most Americans are aware, the Postal 
Service faces a crisis of huge and historic proportions, despite 
extensive efforts to reduce costs. This situation is due to the 
precipitous decline in mail volume brought about by the deepening 
recession, changes in technology and society, and the economic 
condition of the agency's largest customer, the financial services 
industry.
  Additionally, the Postal Service is laboring under a crippling cost 
burden imposed by a statutory requirement that the Postal Service 
prefund the health benefits of future retirees, while still continuing 
to pay annual premiums for its current retirees. The payment for 
current retirees totals about $2 billion and is growing each year. At 
the same time, the annual statutorily-mandated prefunding ranges from 
$5.4 billion to $5.8 billion over the 10-year period from 2007 through 
2016.
  In 2008, the Postal Service's total retiree health benefits costs 
came to $7.4 billion, with $1.8 billion of that amount paid for current 
retirees and $5.6 billion deposited into the Postal Service Retiree 
Health Benefits Fund to prefund future premium payments. Without the 
mandated payments, the Postal Service would have achieved a positive 
net income in 2008 rather than its actual $2.8 billion loss. It is 
important to note that no other entity--public or private--is required 
to prepay this health benefit obligation at these extremely high 
levels.
  As amended, H.R. 22 would begin to address this serious situation. It 
would do so by simply accelerating, for just the remainder of fiscal 
year 2009, a provision in the law to allow the Postal Service to pay 
the health premiums for current retirees from the Postal Service 
Retiree Health Benefits fund; this fund already holds in excess of $32 
billion and will continue to grow. H.R. 22 does not require an 
appropriation or use of any taxpayer monies, but rather involves merely 
an intragovernmental transfer of funds. It would not increase the 
health benefit premiums paid by current or future Postal Service 
retirees, nor would it affect their benefits. Put simply, it is not a 
bailout.
  The Postal Service is in a dire financial situation, and while H.R. 
22 is not the full answer to all of the Service's woes, it is an 
important solution to alleviate the pressure before the agency risks 
running out of money at the end of this month. According to the 
committee, the amended version considered on the floor of the House 
today does not score based on the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) 
evaluation. This is not a budget gimmick because the fact of the matter 
is that the Postal Service cannot adjust its spending for this fiscal 
year so late. Any cost cutting the Postal Service would have made for 
the fiscal year ending September 30 has already taken place and cannot 
be reversed.
  Again, the main driver of the Postal Service's debt has been the 2006 
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act's (P.L. 109-435) requirement 
to prefund 80 percent of its future retiree health benefit costs, a 75-
year liability, in just 10 years. No other business or government 
entity does that. As I noted, if it had not been for this prefunding, 
the Postal Service would have had a profit in 2008, in spite of the 
economic turndown. That is why 339 Members of the House have put their 
name as sponsors on H.R. 22.
  Mr. Speaker, there is a consensus that Congress should enact H.R. 22, 
which is strongly supported by the Postal Service, all of its unions 
and management associations. It is also supported by the entire $900 
billion mailing industry, which employs 9 million Americans. 
Accordingly, I ask my colleagues to support this legislation and work 
with me to enact it into law.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal 
Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia, Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform, I am writing to offer my strong 
support of H.R. 22, the United States Postal Service Financial Relief 
Act of 2009, as amended, which would provide short-term relief in the 
form of a 1-year restructuring of the Postal Service's retiree health 
benefits payment. The Postal Service, after having overpaid this 
obligation for the past couple of years, deserves to have this payment 
restructured, immediately. I need to also mention that the bill before 
us does not constitute a bailout of the Postal Service, in any form or 
fashion. Instead, it is intended to provide the Postal Service with 
some relief from an ill-structured payment schedule that would have 
required the Postal Service to pay nearly $5.5 billion into the retiree 
health benefits fund this year, notwithstanding USPS current financial 
crisis. The bill before us simply lowers that payment to $1.4 billion, 
thereby ensuring that the Postal Service will not default on its 
financial requirements as defined by the 2006 Postal Accountability and 
Enhancement Act. Additionally, the bill before us falls in line with 
calls for a more fiscally responsible government, since the amended 
version of H.R. 22 does not score.
  In 2006, Congress placed an unprecedented burden on the Postal 
Service by requiring the prepayment of 80 percent of future retiree 
health benefits--a 75-year liability--in just 10 years. No other 
Federal agency carries this burden. Our subcommittee has held oversight 
hearings of the Postal Service in the 111th Congress, and during that 
time the financial condition of the Postal Service has rapidly gone 
from bad to worse. The Postal Service is faced with rising costs and 
unprecedented declines in mail volume. The losses were driven by the 
nationwide economic recession, diversion of mail to electronic 
alternatives, and also by the aggressive payment schedule for retiree 
health benefits required by the 2006 postal reform act. The Postal 
Service's fiscal year 2008 payment total for current and future retiree 
health benefits was roughly $7 billion. It is likely that without these 
payments last year, the Postal Service would not have reported a net 
loss of over $2 billion in fiscal year 2008. The future does not appear 
to be getting better. Although the Postal Service has targeted $6.5 
billion in savings through closures of administrative offices, an 
agency-wide hiring freeze, reduction of work hours, and readjustment of 
delivery routes, among other efforts, the Postal Service nonetheless 
expects losses for this year to exceed $7 billion.
  Again, H.R. 22, as amended, provides the Postal Service some much 
needed short-term relief and improves the organization's cash position. 
As currently structured, the Postal Service is almost entirely self-
sustaining. In fact, less than 1 percent of the Postal Service's budget 
is appropriated by Congress. While the measure being considered today 
should not be substituted for a longer-term solution to the Postal 
Service's financial problems, it is, nevertheless a critical component 
to a mix of strategies to assist the Postal Service in these dismal 
economic times. In the coming months, our subcommittee will continue to 
provide oversight of the Postal Service, including an in-depth 
examination of the Postal Service's business model to help determine 
what longer-term changes may be necessary to help the Postal Service 
return to financial viability.
  In closing, I would like to thank Representatives John McHugh of New 
York and Danny Davis of Illinois for introducing this bill and for 
their hard work in advancing this bill through the House. Additionally, 
I would like to thank Chairman Edolphus Towns, the House leadership, 
and the House Budget Committee for their tireless efforts to bring the 
bill to the floor. Lastly, I want to recognize Representatives Darrell 
Issa and Jason Chaffetz for their ongoing assistance on this important 
piece of legislation. I again express my strong support, Mr. Speaker, 
of approving H.R. 22 as amended, and I encourage my colleagues to do 
the same.

[[Page 21636]]


  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman McHugh for his 
leadership on this bill and I am proud to be a cosponsor of this 
important legislation. H.R. 22 provides necessary financial relief for 
the United States Postal Service (USPS) by temporarily allowing it to 
prefund its future health care obligations out of the Postal Service 
Retiree Health Benefits Fund instead of its operating funds.
  As an ardent supporter of the Post Office, I am deeply concerned 
about USPS' financial condition and appreciate the difficult decisions 
the Postal Service must make in order to ensure its survival. I am 
committed to ensuring the viability of the USPS and to the unique, 
irreplaceable services it provides to Americans.
  It is that commitment that fuels my concerns that the Postal Service 
is making decisions to close post office branches across the country 
without full community participation and input. I am concerned that 
people in my community and communities across the country will face a 
significant reduction in services that the Postal Service provides. I 
am concerned that closures of USPS retail branches will mean an 
increase in the privatization of the same services that Northeast Ohio 
relies on.
  In recent weeks, I have received a number of calls from people 
voicing concerns regarding the possible closure of their neighborhood 
postal retail facility. In particular, constituents from vulnerable 
communities who may not have access to transportation or the internet 
have raised concerns that they may not be able to easily access another 
USPS retail facility should the one in their neighborhood close. The 
Postal Service must ensure that they are given a seat at the table and 
ensure that universal access to the crucial services provided by the 
USPS remains.
  I will continue to fight for the U.S. Postal Service and the people 
they serve. I strongly urge passage of this bill.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I am a co-sponsor of H.R. 22, the 
``United States Postal Service Financial Relief Act,'' and I urge my 
colleagues to support the bill. H.R. 22 which will allow the Postal 
Service to pay, for a temporary period of time, the health premiums for 
current postal retirees from the $32 billion heald in reserve in Postal 
Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, rather then from general 
operating revenue.
  The Postal Service is in the midst of a revenue crisis of huge and 
historic proportions, despite its extensive efforts to reduce costs. 
This situation is due in part to the high fuel prices of last summer, 
but most due to the precipitous decline in mail volume brought about by 
the deepening recession. In comparison to mail volume and revenue 
totals in May 2008, the Postal Service reports that volume in May 2009 
declined by 19.9 percent, while revenues for the same period were 14.5 
percent below last year's figures. The Postal Service is currently on 
track to lose over $6.5 billion for Fiscal Year 2009 and the future 
looks similarly bleak.
  It is only an inflexible law that requires the Postal Service--alone 
amongst Federal agencies--to shell out billions of dollars to prefund 
retiree benefits, regardless of economic or financial conditions. The 
first step on the road to stability and recovery is to change that 
inflexible law, at least temporarily, by passing of H.R. 22.
  I doubt that H.R. 22 will solve all the Postal Service's problems--
postal management and postal employees will still have to do their part 
to find additional savings. But I am certain that without this bill the 
continued viability of the Postal Service is in serious jeopardy.
  I wish to emphasis that this bill does not eliminate the Postal 
Service's obligation to prefund retiree health benefits; the Postal 
Service will continue the annual prefunding payment of roughly $5.4. to 
$5.8 billion; H.R. 22 simply gives the Postal Service the temporary 
flexibility to make those payments from the surplus funds now held by 
the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund. In addition, since the 
Postal Service's contribution to the fund is projected to always be 
greater than the premiums flowing out, this action will in no way 
jeopardize the ability of the Trust Fund to grow to meet future needs.
  I am aware that initial estimates from the Congressional Budget 
Office suggest that this bill willl have a budgetary impact because CBO 
expects the Postal Service will reduce its agressive costcutting 
efforts if it receives relief from its retiree health obligations. I 
disagree with this conclusion. The Postal Service has agressively cut 
costs in recent years. In fact, because of the hard work of postal 
employees across the country the Postal Service is on pace to reduce 
costs by a record $5.9 billion in Fiscal Year 2009. There is no 
evidence to suggest this trend will not continue. As for the immediate 
funding for this relief, it will come from an existing pool of money, 
not appropriated funds--making this an intergovernmental transfer--with 
zero cost to the Federal Government.
  H.R. 22 has the support of over 315 Members of Congress. It is 
critical to the future survival of the United States Postal Service, 
and I strongly urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  Mr. TOWNS. On that note, I yield back the balance of my time.
  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. 22, as amended.
  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. BROUN of Georgia. 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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