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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 210

To provide for the privatization of the United States Postal Service.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. CRANE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Government Reform and Oversight

A BILL

To provide for the privatization of the United States Postal

Service.

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

3 SECTION 1. TRANSFER TO A PRIVATE CORPORATION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the plan pre5 scribed under section 3, all right, title, and interest of the

6 United States in and to all property of the Postal Service

7 shall be transferred to a corporation if, within 1 year after

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, such corporation

9 satisfies the requirements set forth in section 2.

10 (b) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT.—The plan prescribed

11 under section 3 shall include such provisions as may be
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1 necessary to ensure that no payment shall be required in

2 consideration for any rights or assets of the Postal Service

3 which are transferred pursuant to this Act.

4 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CORPORATION.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—A corporation shall be considered

6 to satisfy the requirements of this section if such corpora7 tion—

8 (1) is incorporated under the laws of a State;

9 (2) is not a department, agency, or establish10 ment of the United States;

11 (3) is incorporated by not more than 9 individ12 uals who are especially qualified to establish and op13 erate an effective mail system by virtue of their edu14 cation, training, or experience, and who are chosen

15 by the employees of the Postal Service in an election

16 which shall be held at such time and in such manner

17 as the President shall by regulation prescribe;

18 (4) includes among its purposes the delivery of

19 postal services in a manner consistent with section

20 101(b) of title 39, United States Code, at rates es21 tablished in a manner consistent with section 101(d)

22 of such title;

23 (5) issues securities in a manner consistent

24 with subsection (b); and
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1 (6) satisfies such other requirements as the

2 President may by regulation prescribe in order to

3 carry out the purposes of this Act.

4 (b) SECURITIES.—Any securities issued by the corpo5 ration—

6 (1) shall, during the 1-year period beginning on

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, be issued—

8 (A) only to employees of the Postal Serv9 ice;

10 (B) under a system (as developed under

11 section 4) which provides that securities shall

12 be issued to individuals based on their years of

13 service and levels of compensation; and

14 (C) subject to such terms and conditions,

15 including terms and conditions relating to the

16 sale, transfer, or other disposition of such secu17 rities following their issuance by the corpora18 tion, as may be necessary to promote the reten19 tion of well-qualified personnel; and

20 (2) may, after the end of that period, be offered

21 for sale to members of the general public under such

22 terms and conditions as the corporation considers

23 appropriate.

24 (c) RETIREMENT BENEFITS.—Retirement benefits

25 provided to employees of the corporation must be com-
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1 parable to those which would have been afforded to those

2 individuals as employees of the Postal Service had this

3 Act not been enacted.

4 SEC. 3. TRANSFER PLAN; PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION;

5 RATE-SETTING AUTHORITY.

6 (a) TRANSFER PLAN.—Not later than the sixtieth

7 day after the date on which a corporation first satisfies

8 the requirements of section 2, as determined under sub9 section (b), the President shall, in conformance with the

10 requirements of section 1, and after consultation with the

11 commission under section 4, transmit to Congress—

12 (1) a comprehensive plan providing for the or13 derly transfer of all property subject to this Act, in14 cluding a timetable under which such transfer is

15 completed not later than 180 days after the date on

16 which such corporation first satisfies such require17 ments; and

18 (2) such recommendations for legislation as the

19 President considers necessary in order to carry out

20 the plan described in paragraph (1), including

21 recommendations—

22 (A) for the abolishment of the Postal Serv23 ice;
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1 (B) for the continuation of the private ex2 press statutes with respect to the corporation

3 during the first 5 years of its existence; and

4 (C) for the repeal or modification of appro5 priate Federal statutes.

6 (b) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION.—The Presi7 dent shall, for purposes of this section, determine the date

8 on which a corporation first satisfies the requirements of

9 section 2.

10 (c) RATE-SETTING AUTHORITY.—After consulting

11 with the Postal Rate Commission, the President shall de12 velop and include as part of the recommendations submit13 ted under subsection (a) proposals relating to the means

14 by which rates of postage would be established during the

15 5-year period referred to in subsection (a)(2)(B). Such

16 recommendations may include continuing any operations

17 of the Postal Rate Commission (whether on a modified

18 basis or otherwise) which may be appropriate.

19 SEC. 4. POSTAL PRIVATIZATION COMMISSION.

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to carry out the

21 functions set forth in sections 2(b)(1)(B) and 3(a), there

22 is established a commission to be known as the ‘‘Postal

23 Privatization Commission’’.

24 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall consist of

25 12 members, to be selected by the President, of whom—
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1 (1) 3 shall be selected from among individuals

2 recommended jointly by the Speaker of the House of

3 Representatives and the President pro tempore of

4 the Senate;

5 (2) 3 shall be selected to represent the interests

6 of employees of the Postal Service;

7 (3) 3 shall be selected to represent the interests

8 of postal management; and

9 (4) 3 shall be selected from such other postal

10 experts as the President considers appropriate.

11 (c) COMPENSATION.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), members of the Commission shall be paid

14 at the daily equivalent of a rate, not to exceed the

15 rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Execu16 tive Schedule, for each day (including travel time)

17 during which they are engaged in the performance

18 of duties of the Commission.

19 (2) EXCEPTION.—Members of the Commission

20 who are full-time officers or employees of the United

21 States shall receive no additional pay by reason of

22 their service on the Commission.

23 (d) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall cease to

24 exist as of the date on which the work of the Commission

25 has been completed.
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1 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act—

3 (1) the term ‘‘Postal Service’’ means the United

4 States Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commis5 sion;

6 (2) the term ‘‘property’’, when used with re7 spect to the Postal Service, means all assets and

8 rights, and all liabilities and obligations, of the Post9 al Service; and

10 (3) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several

11 States, the District of Columbia, and the Common12 wealth of Puerto Rico.

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