[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 50 (Monday, December 16, 2002)]
[Pages 2151-2152]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13278--President's Commission on the United States 
Postal Service

December 11, 2002

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, and to ensure the efficient 
operation of the United States Postal Service while minimizing the 
financial exposure of the American taxpayers, it is hereby ordered as 
follows:
    Section 1. Establishment. There is established the President's 
Commission on the United States Postal Service (Commission).
    Sec. 2. Membership. Commission shall be composed of nine members 
appointed by the President. The President shall designate two members of 
the Commission to serve as Co-Chairs.
    Sec. 3. Mission. (a) The mission of the Commission shall be to 
examine the state of the United States Postal Service, and to prepare 
and submit to the President a report articulating a proposed vision for 
the future of the United States Postal Service and recommending the 
legislative and administrative reforms needed to ensure the viability of 
postal services.
    (b) In fulfilling its mission, the Commission shall consider the 
following issues and such other issues relating to the Postal Service as 
the Commission determines appropriate:
    (i) the role of the Postal Service in the 21st century and beyond;
    (ii) the flexibility that the Postal Service should have to change 
prices, control costs, and adjust service in response to financial, 
competitive, or market pressures;
    (iii) the rigidities in cost or service that limit the efficiency of 
the postal system;
    (iv) the ability of the Postal Service, over the long term, to 
maintain universal mail delivery at affordable rates and cover its 
unfunded liabilities with minimum exposure to the American taxpayers;
    (v) the extent to which postal monopoly restrictions continue to 
advance the public interest under evolving market conditions, and the 
extent to which the Postal Service competes with private sector 
services; and
    (vi) the most appropriate governance and oversight structure for the 
Postal Service.
    Sec. 4. Administration. (a) The Department of the Treasury or any 
organizational entity subject to the direction of the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide administrative 
support and funding for the Commission. The Commission is established 
within the Department of the Treasury for administrative purposes only.
    (b) Members of the Commission shall serve without any compensation 
for their work on the Commission. Members appointed from among private 
citizens of the United States, however, while engaged in the work of the 
Commission, may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu 
of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently 
in Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707), to the extent funds are 
available.
    (c) The Commission shall have a staff headed by an Executive 
Director.
    (d) The Commission, with the concurrence of the Secretary of the 
Treasury, may establish subcommittees, consisting of Commission members, 
as appropriate, to aid in its work.
    (e) Consistent with such guidance as the President or, on the 
President's behalf, the Secretary of the Treasury, may provide, the 
Commission shall exchange information with and obtain advice from 
Members of Congress; Federal, State, local, and tribal officials; 
commercial, nonprofit, and residential users of the United States Postal 
Service; and others, as appropriate, including through public hearings.
    (f) Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, may 
apply to the

[[Page 2152]]

Commission, any functions of the President under that Act, except for 
those in section 6 of that Act, shall be performed by the Secretary of 
the Treasury, in accordance with the guidelines that have been issued by 
the Administrator of General Services.
    (g) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise 
affect the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget relating to budget, administrative, or legislative proposals.
    Sec. 5. Report. The Commission shall submit its report, consistent 
with its mission set forth in section 3 of this order, to the President, 
through the Secretary of the Treasury, not later than July 31, 2003.
    Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) This order is intended only to 
improve the internal management of the Federal Government and it is not 
intended to, and does not create, any right or benefit, substantive or 
procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the 
United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities or entities, 
its officers or employees, or any other person.
    (b) The Commission shall terminate 30 days after submitting its 
report and in no event later than August 30, 2003.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 December 11, 2002.

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., December 12, 
2002]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on 
December 13.