I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3916 

To reduce the operating costs of the United States Postal Service, to provide 

for continued postal services for certain areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2012 

Ms. WATERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To reduce the operating costs of the United States Postal 

Service, to provide for continued postal services for certain areas, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Post Offices 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CALCULATION OF POSTAL SERVICE RETIREE 

7 HEALTH BENEFIT PAYMENTS. 

8 Section 8909a(d)(3) of title 5, United States Code, 

9 is amended as follows: 

10 (1) Subparagraph (A) is repealed. 


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1 (2) In subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘2017’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘2012’’. 

3 SEC. 3. NONPOSTAL SERVICES; POST OFFICE CLOSURES. 

4 (a) NONPOSTAL SERVICES.—Subsection (a) of sec5 tion 404 of title 39, United States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period and 

9 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(9) to provide nonpostal services.’’. 

12 (b) POST OFFICE CLOSURES.—Subsection (e) of such 

13 section is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(e)(1) Notwithstanding subsections (a)(3) or (d), 

15 the Postal Service may not close or consolidate any post 

16 office or other postal facility that is located in a ZIP Code 

17 that has a high rate of poverty and a high rate of unem18 ployment. To determine whether a ZIP Code has a high 

19 rate of poverty or unemployment, the Postmaster General 

20 shall consult with the Secretary of Commerce and the Sec21 retary of Labor. 

22 ‘‘(2) Not later than 1 year after the date of enact23 ment of this subsection, the Postmaster General shall sub24 mit a report to Congress on alternative uses with respect 


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1 to under-used postal facilities, including whether such fa2 cilities could offer nonpostal services and products.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. RATE REGULATION FOR MARKET-DOMINANT PROD4 UCTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 3622 of 

6 title 39, United States Code, the Postmaster General shall 

7 have the authority to regulate rates for market-dominant 

8 products. Such authority shall not apply to the rate dis9 counts established under subsection (e) of such section. 

10 (b) NOTIFICATION.—If the Postmaster General de11 termines under subsection (a) that an adjustment in a rate 

12 for a market-dominant product is necessary, the Post13 master General shall provide public notice of such adjust14 ment not later than 45 days before the implementation 

15 of such adjustment. 

16 (c) CONSUMER PRICE INDEX.—In determining 

17 whether an adjustment in a rate for a market-dominant 

18 product is reasonable, the Postmaster General may com19 pare the percentage change of such adjustment with the 

20 percentage change of the Consumer Price Index for All 

21 Urban Consumers unadjusted for seasonal variation dur22 ing the 12-month period preceding the date the Post23 master General files notice of such adjustment pursuant 

24 to subsection (b). 

Æ 


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