I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2309 

To restore the financial solvency of the United States Postal Service and 

to ensure the efficient and affordable nationwide delivery of mail. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2011 

Mr. ISSA (for himself and Mr. ROSS of Florida) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To restore the financial solvency of the United States Postal 

Service and to ensure the efficient and affordable nationwide delivery of mail. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS; REF4 ERENCES. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Postal Reform Act of 2011’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

8 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; references. 

TITLE I—POSTAL SERVICE MODERNIZATION 

Subtitle A—Commission on Postal Reorganization 

Sec. 101. Short title. 

Sec. 102. Definitions. 

Sec. 103. Commission on Postal Reorganization. 

Sec. 104. Recommendations for closures and consolidations. 

Sec. 105. Implementation of closures and consolidations. 

Sec. 106. Congressional consideration of final CPR reports. 

Sec. 107. Nonappealability of decisions. 

Sec. 108. Rules of construction. 

Subtitle B—Other Provisions 

Sec. 111. Frequency of mail delivery. 

Sec. 112. Efficient and flexible universal postal service. 

Sec. 113. More cost-efficient Postal Service contracting. 

Sec. 114. Enhanced reporting on Postal Service efficiency. 

TITLE II—POSTAL SERVICE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND 

MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE AUTHORITY 

Subtitle A—Establishment and Organization 

Sec. 201. Purposes. 

Sec. 202. Establishment of the Authority. 

Sec. 203. Membership and qualification requirements. 

Sec. 204. Organization. 

Sec. 205. Executive Director and staff. 

Sec. 206. Funding. 

Subtitle B—Powers of the Authority 

Sec. 211. Powers. 

Sec. 212. Exemption from liability for claims. 

Sec. 213. Treatment of actions arising under this title. 

Subtitle C—Establishment and Enforcement of Financial Plan and Budget 

for the Postal Service 

Sec. 221. Development of financial plan and budget for the Postal Service. 

Sec. 222. Supplementary borrowing authority during a control period. 

Sec. 223. Process for submission and approval of financial plan and budget. 

Sec. 224. Responsibilities of the Authority. 

Sec. 225. Effect of finding noncompliance with financial plan and budget. 

Sec. 226. Recommendations regarding financial stability, etc. 

Sec. 227. Special rules for fiscal year in which control period commences. 

Sec. 228. Assistance in achieving financial stability, etc. 

Sec. 229. Obtaining reports. 

Sec. 230. Reports and comments. 

Subtitle D—Termination of a Control Period 

Sec. 231. Termination of control period, etc. 

Sec. 232. Congressional consideration of recommendation. 


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TITLE III—POSTAL SERVICE WORKFORCE 

Subtitle A—General Provisions 

Sec. 301. Modifications relating to determination of pay comparability. 

Sec. 302. Limitation on postal contributions under FEGLI and FEHBP. 

Sec. 303. Repeal of provision relating to overall value of fringe benefits. 

Sec. 304. Modifications relating to collective bargaining. 

Subtitle B—Postal Service Workers’ Compensation Reform 

Sec. 311. Sense of Congress. 

TITLE IV—POSTAL SERVICE REVENUE 

Sec. 401. Adequacy, efficiency, and fairness of postal rates. 

Sec. 402. Repeal of rate preferences for qualified political committees. 

Sec. 403. Rate preferences for nonprofit advertising. 

Sec. 404. Streamlined review of qualifying service agreements for competitive 

products. 

Sec. 405. Submission of service agreements for streamlined review. 

Sec. 406. Transparency and accountability for service agreements. 

Sec. 407. Nonpostal services. 

TITLE V—POSTAL CONTRACTING REFORM 

Sec. 501. Contracting provisions. 

Sec. 502. Technical amendment to definition. 

1 (c) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 

2 provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal 

3 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, 

4 a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid5 ered to be made to a section or other provision of title 

6 39, United States Code. 

7 TITLE I—POSTAL SERVICE 

8 MODERNIZATION 

9 Subtitle A—Commission on Postal 

10 Reorganization 

11 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Commission on 

13 Postal Reorganization Act’’ or the ‘‘CPR Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 

2 For purposes of this title— 

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

4 States Postal Service; 

5 (2) the term ‘‘postal retail facility’’ means a 

6 post office, post office branch, post office classified 

7 station, or other facility which is operated by the 

8 Postal Service, and the primary function of which is 

9 to provide retail postal services; 

10 (3) the term ‘‘mail processing facility’’ means a 

11 processing and distribution center, processing and 

12 distribution facility, network distribution center, or 

13 other facility which is operated by the Postal Serv14 ice, and the primary function of which is to sort and 

15 process mail; 

16 (4) the term ‘‘district office’’ means the central 

17 office of an administrative field unit with responsi18 bility for postal operations in a designated geo19 graphic area (as defined under regulations, direc20 tives, or other guidance of the Postal Service, as in 

21 effect on June 23, 2011); 

22 (5) the term ‘‘area office’’ means the central of23 fice of an administrative field unit with responsibility 

24 for postal operations in a designated geographic area 

25 which is comprised of designated geographic areas 

26 as referred to in paragraph (4); 


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1 (6) the term ‘‘baseline year’’ means the fiscal 

2 year last ending before the date of the enactment of 

3 this Act; and 

4 (7) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ has the 

5 meaning given such term by section 2106 of title 5, 

6 United States Code. 

7 SEC. 103. COMMISSION ON POSTAL REORGANIZATION. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established, 

9 not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

10 of this Act, an independent commission to be known as 

11 the ‘‘Commission on Postal Reorganization’’ (hereinafter 

12 in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

13 (b) DUTIES.—The Commission shall carry out the 

14 duties specified for it in this subtitle. 

15 (c) MEMBERS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

17 composed of 5 members who shall be appointed by 

18 the President, and of whom— 

19 (A) 1 shall be appointed from among indi20 viduals recommended by the Speaker of the 

21 House of Representatives; 

22 (B) 1 shall be appointed from among indi23 viduals recommended by the majority leader of 

24 the Senate; 


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1 (C) 1 shall be appointed from among indi2 viduals recommended by the minority leader of 

3 the House of Representatives; 

4 (D) 1 shall be appointed from among indi5 viduals recommended by the minority leader of 

6 the Senate; and 

7 (E) 1 shall be appointed from among indi8 viduals recommended by the Comptroller Gen9 eral. 

10 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Com12 mission shall be chosen to represent the public 

13 interest generally, and shall not be representa14 tives of specific interests using the Postal Serv15 ice. 

16 (B) INELIGIBILITY.—An individual may 

17 not be appointed to serve as a member of the 

18 Commission if such individual served as an em19 ployee of the Postal Service or the Postal Regu20 latory Commission, or of a labor organization 

21 representing employees of the Postal Service or 

22 the Postal Regulatory Commission, during the 

23 3-year period ending on the date of such ap24 pointment. 


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1 (3) POLITICAL AFFILIATION.—Not more than 3 

2 members of the Commission may be of the same po3 litical party. 

4 (d) TERMS.—Each member of the Commission shall 

5 be appointed for the life of the Commission and may be 

6 removed only for cause. 

7 (e) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall 

8 be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. 

9 (f) CHAIRMAN.—The President shall, at the time of 

10 making appointments under subsection (c), designate one 

11 of the members to serve as chairman of the Commission. 

12 (g) COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.— 

13 (1) COMPENSATION.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

15 subparagraph (B), each member of the Com16 mission shall be paid at a rate equal to the 

17 daily equivalent of $40,000 per year for each 

18 day (including travel time) during which the 

19 member is engaged in the actual performance of 

20 duties vested in the Commission. 

21 (B) EXCEPTION.—Any member of the 

22 Commission who is a full-time officer or em23 ployee of the United States or a Member of 

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1 ances, or benefits by reason of such member’s 

2 service on the Commission. 

3 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member shall 

4 receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of 

5 subsistence, in accordance with applicable provisions 

6 of subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United 

7 States Code. 

8 (h) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall have a Direc9 tor who shall be appointed by the Commission. The Direc10 tor shall be paid at the rate of basic pay for level IV of 

11 the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, 

12 United States Code. An appointment under this sub13 section shall be subject to the requirements of subsection 

14 (c)(2). 

15 (i) ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL.—With the approval of 

16 the Commission, the Director may appoint and fix the pay 

17 of such additional personnel as the Director considers ap18 propriate. Such additional personnel may be appointed 

19 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States 

20 Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, 

21 and may be paid without regard to the provisions of chap22 ter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relat23 ing to classification and General Schedule pay rates, ex24 cept that an individual so appointed may not receive pay 

25 at a rate of basic pay in excess of the rate of basic pay 


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1 payable to the Director. An individual appointed under 

2 this subsection shall serve at the pleasure of the Director. 

3 (j) PROVISIONS RELATING TO DETAILS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon request of the Direc5 tor, the head of any Federal department or agency 

6 may detail any of the personnel of such department 

7 or agency to the Commission to assist the Commis8 sion in carrying out its duties under this subtitle. 

9 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, to pro10 vide continuity in the work of the Commission, such 

11 details may be extended beyond 1 year at the re12 quest of the Director. 

13 (2) NUMERICAL LIMITATION.—Not more than 

1 14 ⁄3 of the personnel of the Commission may consist 

15 of individuals on detail from the Postal Service or 

16 the Postal Regulatory Commission. 

17 (3) OTHER LIMITATIONS.—A person may not 

18 be detailed to the Commission from the Postal Serv19 ice or the Postal Regulatory Commission if such per20 son participated personally and substantially on any 

21 matter, within the Postal Service or the Postal Reg22 ulatory Commission, concerning the preparation of 

23 recommendations for closures or consolidations of 

24 postal facilities under this subtitle. No employee of 

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1 sion (including a detailee to the Postal Service or 

2 the Postal Regulatory Commission) may— 

3 (A) prepare any report concerning the ef4 fectiveness, fitness, or efficiency of the perform5 ance, on the staff of the Commission, of any 

6 person detailed from the Postal Service or the 

7 Postal Regulatory Commission to such staff; 

8 (B) review the preparation of such a re9 port; or 

10 (C) approve or disapprove such a report. 

11 (k) OTHER AUTHORITIES.— 

12 (1) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Com13 mission may procure by contract, to the extent funds 

14 are available, temporary or intermittent services 

15 under section 3109 of title 5, United States Code. 

16 (2) LEASING, ETC.—The Commission may lease 

17 space and acquire personal property to the extent 

18 funds are available. 

19 (l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In order 

20 to carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro21 priated out of the Postal Service Fund $20,000,000, 

22 which funds shall remain available until expended. 

23 (m) FINANCIAL REPORTING.— 

24 (1) AUDIT AND EXPENDITURES.—The Commis25 sion shall be responsible for issuing annual financial 


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1 statements and for establishing and maintaining 

2 adequate controls over its financial reporting. 

3 (2) INTERNAL AUDITS.—The Commission shall 

4 maintain an adequate internal audit of its financial 

5 transactions. 

6 (3) ANNUAL CERTIFICATION.—The Commission 

7 shall obtain an annual certification for each fiscal 

8 year from an independent, certified public account9 ing firm of the accuracy of its financial statements. 

10 (4) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The accounts 

11 and operations of the Commission shall be audited 

12 by the Comptroller General and reports thereon 

13 made to the Congress to the extent and at such 

14 times as the Comptroller General may determine. 

15 (n) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

16 60 days after submitting its final reports under section 

17 104(d)(3). 

18 SEC. 104. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CLOSURES AND CON19 SOLIDATIONS. 

20 (a) PLAN FOR THE CLOSURE OR CONSOLIDATION OF

21 POSTAL RETAIL FACILITIES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Post24 al Service, in consultation with the Postal Regu25 latory Commission, shall develop and submit to the 


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1 Commission on Postal Reorganization a plan for the 

2 closure or consolidation of such postal retail facilities 

3 as the Postal Service considers necessary and appro4 priate so that the total annual costs attributable to 

5 the operation of postal retail facilities will be, for 

6 each fiscal year beginning at least 2 years after the 

7 date on which the Commission transmits to Con8 gress its final report under subsection (d)(3)(A) re9 lating to this subsection, at least $1,000,000,000 

10 less than the corresponding total annual costs for 

11 the baseline year. 

12 (2) CONTENTS.—The plan shall include— 

13 (A) a list of the postal retail facilities pro14 posed for closure or consolidation under this 

15 subtitle; 

16 (B) a proposed schedule under which— 

17 (i) closures and consolidations of post18 al retail facilities would be carried out 

19 under this subtitle; and 

20 (ii) all closures and consolidations of 

21 postal retail facilities under this subtitle 

22 would be completed by not later than 2 

23 years after the date on which the Commis24 sion transmits to Congress its final report 


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1 under subsection (d)(3)(A) relating to such 

2 plan; 

3 (C) the estimated total annual cost savings 

4 attributable to the proposed closures and con5 solidations described in the plan; 

6 (D) the criteria and process used to de7 velop the information described in subpara8 graphs (A) and (B); 

9 (E) the methodology and assumptions used 

10 to derive the estimates described in subpara11 graph (C); and 

12 (F) any changes to the processing, trans13 portation, delivery, or other postal operations 

14 anticipated as a result of the proposed closures 

15 and consolidations described in the plan. 

16 (3) CONSISTENCY.—The methodology and as17 sumptions used to derive the cost estimates de18 scribed in paragraph (2)(C) shall be consistent with 

19 the methodology and assumptions which would have 

20 been used by the Postal Service if those closures and 

21 consolidations had instead taken effect in the base22 line year. 

23 (b) PLAN FOR THE CLOSURE OR CONSOLIDATION OF

24 MAIL PROCESSING FACILITIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 300 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Post3 al Service, in consultation with the Inspector Gen4 eral of the United States Postal Service, shall de5 velop and submit to the Commission on Postal Reor6 ganization a plan for the closure or consolidation of 

7 such mail processing facilities as the Postal Service 

8 considers necessary and appropriate so that— 

9 (A) the total annual costs attributable to 

10 the operation of mail processing facilities will 

11 be, for each fiscal year beginning at least 2 

12 years after the date on which the Commission 

13 transmits to Congress its final report under 

14 subsection (d)(3)(A) relating to this subsection, 

15 at least $1,000,000,000 less than the cor16 responding total annual costs for the baseline 

17 year; and 

18 (B) the Postal Service has, for fiscal years 

19 beginning at least 2 years after the date on 

20 which the Commission transmits to Congress its 

21 final report under subsection (d)(3)(A) relating 

22 to this subsection, no more than 10 percent ex23 cess mail processing capacity. 

24 (2) CONTENTS.—The plan shall include— 


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1 (A) a list of the mail processing facilities 

2 proposed for closure or consolidation under this 

3 subtitle; 

4 (B) a proposed schedule under which— 

5 (i) closures and consolidations of mail 

6 processing facilities would be carried out 

7 under this subtitle; and 

8 (ii) all closures and consolidations of 

9 mail processing facilities under this sub10 title would be completed by not later than 

11 2 years after the date on which the Com12 mission transmits to Congress its final re13 port under subsection (d)(3)(A) relating to 

14 such plan; 

15 (C) the estimated total annual cost savings 

16 attributable to the proposed closures and con17 solidations described in the plan; 

18 (D) the criteria and process used to de19 velop the information described in subpara20 graphs (A) and (B); 

21 (E) the methodology and assumptions used 

22 to derive the estimates described in subpara23 graph (C); and 

24 (F) any changes to the processing, trans25 portation, delivery, or other postal operations 


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1 anticipated as a result of the proposed closures 

2 and consolidations described in the plan. 

3 (3) CONSISTENCY.—The methodology and as4 sumptions used to derive the cost estimates de5 scribed in paragraph (2)(C) shall be consistent with 

6 the methodology and assumptions which would have 

7 been used by the Postal Service if those closures and 

8 consolidations had instead taken effect in the base9 line year. 

10 (4) EXCESS MAIL PROCESSING CAPACITY.—The 

11 Commission shall cause to be published in the Fed12 eral Register notice of a proposed definition of ‘‘ex13 cess mail processing capacity’’ for purposes of this 

14 section within 120 days after the date of the enact15 ment of this Act, and shall provide a period of 30 

16 days for public comment on the proposed definition. 

17 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, the Commission shall issue and 

19 cause to be published in the Federal Register a final 

20 definition of ‘‘excess mail processing capacity’’ for 

21 purposes of this section. Such definition shall in22 clude an estimate of the total amount of excess mail 

23 processing capacity in mail processing facilities as of 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (c) PLAN FOR THE CLOSURE OR CONSOLIDATION OF

2 AREA AND DISTRICT OFFICES.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 300 days 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Post5 al Service, in consultation with the Inspector Gen6 eral of the United States Postal Service, shall de7 velop and submit to the Commission on Postal Reor8 ganization a plan for the closure or consolidation of 

9 such area and district offices as the Postal Service 

10 considers necessary and appropriate so that the com11 bined total number of area and district offices will 

12 be, for each fiscal year beginning at least 2 years 

13 after the date on which the Commission transmits to 

14 Congress its final report under subsection (d)(3)(A) 

15 relating to this subsection, at least 30 percent less 

16 than the corresponding combined total for the base17 line year. 

18 (2) CONTENTS.—The plan shall include— 

19 (A) a list of the area and district offices 

20 proposed for closure or consolidation under this 

21 subtitle; 

22 (B) a proposed schedule under which— 

23 (i) closures and consolidations of area 

24 and district offices would be carried out 

25 under this subtitle; and 


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1 (ii) all closures and consolidations of 

2 area and district offices under this subtitle 

3 would be completed by not later than 2 

4 years after the date on which the Commis5 sion transmits to Congress its final report 

6 under subsection (d)(3)(A) relating to such 

7 plan; 

8 (C) the estimated total annual cost savings 

9 attributable to the proposed closures and con10 solidations described in the plan; 

11 (D) the criteria and process used to de12 velop the information described in subpara13 graphs (A) and (B); 

14 (E) the methodology and assumptions used 

15 to derive the estimates described in subpara16 graph (C); and 

17 (F) any changes to the processing, trans18 portation, delivery, or other postal operations 

19 anticipated as a result of the proposed closures 

20 and consolidations described in the plan. 

21 (3) CONSISTENCY.—The methodology and as22 sumptions used to derive the cost estimates de23 scribed in paragraph (2)(C) shall be consistent with 

24 the methodology and assumptions which would have 

25 been used by the Postal Service if those closures and 


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1 consolidations had instead taken effect in the base2 line year. 

3 (d) REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COM4 MISSION.— 

5 (1) INITIAL REPORTS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—After receiving the plan 

7 of the Postal Service under subsection (a), (b), 

8 or (c), the Commission on Postal Reorganiza9 tion shall transmit to Congress and publish in 

10 the Federal Register a report under this para11 graph, which shall contain the Commission’s 

12 findings based on a review and analysis of such 

13 plan, together with the Commission’s initial rec14 ommendations for closures and consolidations 

15 of postal facilities, mail processing facilities, or 

16 area and district offices (as the case may be). 

17 (B) EXPLANATION OF CHANGES.—The 

18 Commission shall explain and justify in its re19 port any recommendations made by the Com20 mission that are different from those contained 

21 in the Postal Service plan to which such report 

22 pertains. 

23 (C) DEADLINES.—A report of the Commis24 sion under this paragraph shall be transmitted 


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1 and published, in accordance with subparagraph 

2 (A), within— 

3 (i) if the report pertains to the plan 

4 under subsection (a), 60 days after the 

5 date on which the Commission receives 

6 such plan; or 

7 (ii) if the report pertains to the plan 

8 under subsection (b) or (c), 90 days after 

9 the date on which the Commission receives 

10 such plan. 

11 (2) PUBLIC HEARINGS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—After receiving the plan 

13 of the Postal Service under subsection (a), (b), 

14 or (c), the Commission on Postal Reorganiza15 tion shall conduct at least 5 public hearings on 

16 such plan. The hearings shall be conducted in 

17 geographic areas chosen so as to reflect a 

18 broadly representative range of needs and inter19 ests. 

20 (B) TESTIMONY.—All testimony before the 

21 Commission at a public hearing conducted 

22 under this paragraph shall be given under oath. 

23 (C) DEADLINES.—All hearings under this 

24 paragraph shall be completed within 60 days 

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1 isfies the requirements of paragraph (1) with 

2 respect to such plan. 

3 (3) FINAL REPORTS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—After satisfying the re5 quirements of paragraph (2) with respect to the 

6 plan of the Postal Service under subsection (a), 

7 (b), or (c) (as the case may be), the Commis8 sion shall transmit to Congress and publish in 

9 the Federal Register a report under this para10 graph containing a summary of the hearings 

11 conducted with respect to such plan, together 

12 with the Commission’s final recommendations 

13 for closures and consolidations of postal facili14 ties, mail processing facilities, or area and dis15 trict offices (as the case may be). 

16 (B) APPROVAL.—Recommendations under 

17 subparagraph (A) shall not be considered to be 

18 final recommendations unless they are made 

19 with— 

20 (i) except as provided in clause (ii), 

21 the concurrence of at least 4 members of 

22 the Commission; or 

23 (ii) to the extent that the require24 ments of subsection (b)(1)(A) or (c)(1) are 

25 not met, with the concurrence of all sitting 


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1 members, but only if the shortfall (relative 

2 to the requirements of subsection (b)(1)(A) 

3 or (c)(1), as the case may be) does not ex4 ceed 25 percent. 

5 (C) CONTENTS.—A report under this para6 graph shall include— 

7 (i) the information required by para8 graph (2) of subsection (a), (b), or (c) (as 

9 the case may be); and 

10 (ii) a description of the operations 

11 that will be affected by the closure or con12 solidation and the facilities or offices which 

13 will be performing or ceasing to perform 

14 such operations as a result of such closure 

15 or consolidation. 

16 (D) DEADLINES.—A report of the Com17 mission under this paragraph shall be trans18 mitted and published, in accordance with sub19 paragraph (A), within 60 days after the date as 

20 of which the Commission satisfies the require21 ments of paragraph (2) with respect to the plan 

22 involved. 


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1 SEC. 105. IMPLEMENTATION OF CLOSURES AND CONSOLI2 DATIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the 

4 Postal Service shall— 

5 (1) close or consolidate (as the case may be) the 

6 facilities and offices recommended by the Commis7 sion in each of its final reports under section 

8 104(d)(3); and 

9 (2) carry out those closures and consolidations 

10 in accordance with the timetable recommended by 

11 the Commission in such report, except that in no 

12 event shall any such closure or consolidation be com13 pleted later than 2 years after the date on which 

14 such report is submitted to Congress. 

15 (b) CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Service may not 

17 carry out any closure or consolidation recommended 

18 by the Commission in a final report if a joint resolu19 tion disapproving the recommendations of the Com20 mission is enacted, in accordance with section 106, 

21 before the earlier of— 

22 (A) the end of the 30-day period beginning 

23 on the date on which the Commission transmits 

24 those recommendations to Congress under sec25 tion 104(d)(3); or 


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1 (B) the adjournment of the Congress sine 

2 die for the session during which such report is 

3 transmitted. 

4 (2) DAYS OF SESSION.—For purposes of para5 graph (1) and subsections (a) and (c) of section 106, 

6 the days on which either House of Congress is not 

7 in session because of an adjournment of more than 

8 7 days to a day certain shall be excluded in the com9 putation of a period. 

10 SEC. 106. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF FINAL CPR 

11 REPORTS. 

12 (a) TERMS OF THE RESOLUTION.—For purposes of 

13 this subtitle, the term ‘‘joint resolution’’, as used with re14 spect to a report under section 104(d)(3), means only a 

15 joint resolution— 

16 (1) which is introduced within the 10-day pe17 riod beginning on the date on which such report is 

18 received by Congress; 

19 (2) the matter after the resolving clause of 

20 which is as follows: ‘‘That Congress disapproves the 

21 recommendations of the Commission on Postal Reor22 ganization, submitted by such Commission on ll, 

23 and pertaining to the closure or consolidation of 

24 ll.’’, the first blank space being filled in with the 

25 appropriate date and the second blank space being 


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1 filled in with ‘‘postal facilities’’, ‘‘mail processing fa2 cilities’’, or ‘‘area and district offices’’ (as the case 

3 may be); 

4 (3) the title of which is as follows: ‘‘Joint reso5 lution disapproving the recommendations of the 

6 Commission on Postal Reorganization.’’; and 

7 (4) which does not have a preamble. 

8 (b) REFERRAL.—A resolution described in subsection 

9 (a) that is introduced in the House of Representatives or 

10 the Senate shall be referred to the appropriate committees 

11 of the House of Representatives or the Senate, respec12 tively. 

13 (c) DISCHARGE.—If the committee to which a resolu14 tion described in subsection (a) is referred has not re15 ported such resolution (or an identical resolution) by the 

16 end of the 20-day period beginning on the date on which 

17 the Commission transmits the report (to which such reso18 lution pertains) to Congress under section 104(d)(3), such 

19 committee shall, at the end of such period, be discharged 

20 from further consideration of such resolution, and such 

21 resolution shall be placed on the appropriate calendar of 

22 the House involved. 

23 (d) CONSIDERATION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—On or after the third day 

25 after the date on which the committee to which such 


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1 a resolution is referred has reported, or has been 

2 discharged (under subsection (c)) from further con3 sideration of, such a resolution, it is in order (even 

4 though a previous motion to the same effect has 

5 been disagreed to) for any Member of the respective 

6 House to move to proceed to the consideration of the 

7 resolution. A Member may make the motion only on 

8 the day after the calendar day on which the Member 

9 announces to the House concerned the Member’s in10 tention to make the motion, except that, in the case 

11 of the House of Representatives, the motion may be 

12 made without such prior announcement if the mo13 tion is made by direction of the committee to which 

14 the resolution was referred. All points of order 

15 against the resolution (and against consideration of 

16 the resolution) are waived. The motion is highly 

17 privileged in the House of Representatives and is 

18 privileged in the Senate and is not debatable. The 

19 motion is not subject to amendment, or to a motion 

20 to postpone, or to a motion to proceed to the consid21 eration of other business. A motion to reconsider the 

22 vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed 

23 to shall not be in order. If a motion to proceed to 

24 the consideration of the resolution is agreed to, the 

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1 sideration of the joint resolution without intervening 

2 motion, order, or other business, and the resolution 

3 shall remain the unfinished business of the respec4 tive House until disposed of. 

5 (2) DEBATE.—Debate on the resolution, and on 

6 all debatable motions and appeals in connection 

7 therewith, shall be limited to not more than 2 hours, 

8 which shall be divided equally between those favoring 

9 and those opposing the resolution. An amendment to 

10 the resolution is not in order. A motion further to 

11 limit debate is in order and not debatable. A motion 

12 to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consider13 ation of other business, or a motion to recommit the 

14 resolution is not in order. A motion to reconsider the 

15 vote by which the resolution is agreed to or dis16 agreed to is not in order. 

17 (3) VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE.—Immediately 

18 following the conclusion of the debate on a resolu19 tion described in subsection (a) and a single quorum 

20 call at the conclusion of the debate if requested in 

21 accordance with the rules of the appropriate House, 

22 the vote on final passage of the resolution shall 

23 occur. 

24 (4) APPEALS.—Appeals from the decisions of 

25 the Chair relating to the application of the rules of 


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1 the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the 

2 case may be, to the procedure relating to a resolu3 tion described in subsection (a) shall be decided 

4 without debate. 

5 (e) CONSIDERATION BY OTHER HOUSE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, before the passage by one 

7 House of a resolution of that House described in 

8 subsection (a), that House receives from the other 

9 House a resolution (described in subsection (a)) re10 lating to the same report, then the following proce11 dures shall apply: 

12 (A) The resolution of the other House shall 

13 not be referred to a committee and may not be 

14 considered in the House receiving it except in 

15 the case of final passage as provided in sub16 paragraph (B)(ii). 

17 (B) With respect to the resolution de18 scribed in subsection (a) (relating to the report 

19 in question) of the House receiving the resolu20 tion— 

21 (i) the procedure in that House shall 

22 be the same as if no resolution (relating to 

23 the same report) had been received from 

24 the other House; but 


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1 (ii) the vote on final passage shall be 

2 on the resolution of the other House. 

3 (2) DISPOSITION OF A RESOLUTION.—Upon 

4 disposition of the resolution received from the other 

5 House, it shall no longer be in order to consider the 

6 resolution that originated in the receiving House. 

7 (f) RULES OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE.—This sec8 tion is enacted by Congress— 

9 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

10 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec11 tively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules 

12 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 

13 respect to the procedure to be followed in that 

14 House in the case of a resolution described in sub15 section (a), and it supersedes other rules only to the 

16 extent that it is inconsistent with such rules; and 

17 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

18 right of either House to change the rules (so far as 

19 relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, 

20 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

21 the case of any other rule of that House. 

22 SEC. 107. NONAPPEALABILITY OF DECISIONS. 

23 (a) TO PRC.—The closing or consolidation of any fa24 cility or office under this subtitle may not be appealed to 

25 the Postal Regulatory Commission under section 404(d) 


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1 or any other provision of title 39, United States Code, or 

2 the subject of an advisory opinion issued by the Postal 

3 Regulatory Commission under section 3661 of such title. 

4 (b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No process, report, rec5 ommendation, or other action of the Commission on Postal 

6 Reorganization shall be subject to judicial review. 

7 SEC. 108. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

8 (a) CONTINUED AVAILABILITY OF AUTHORITY TO

9 CLOSE OR CONSOLIDATE POSTAL FACILITIES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this subtitle shall 

11 be considered to prevent the Postal Service from 

12 closing or consolidating any postal facilities, in ac13 cordance with otherwise applicable provisions of law, 

14 either before or after the implementation of any clo15 sures or consolidations under this subtitle. 

16 (2) COORDINATION RULE.—No appeal or deter17 mination under section 404(d) of title 39, United 

18 States Code, or any other provision of law shall 

19 delay, prevent, or otherwise affect any closure or 

20 consolidation under this subtitle. 

21 (b) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of law identi23 fied in paragraph (2)— 

24 (A) shall not apply to any closure or con25 solidation carried out under this subtitle; and 


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1 (B) shall not be taken into account for 

2 purposes of carrying out section 103 or 104. 

3 (2) PROVISIONS IDENTIFIED.—The provisions 

4 of law under this paragraph are— 

5 (A) section 101(b) of title 39, United 

6 States Code; and 

7 (B) section 404(d) of title 39, United 

8 States Code. 

9 Subtitle B—Other Provisions 

10 SEC. 111. FREQUENCY OF MAIL DELIVERY. 

11 Section 101 is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(h) Nothing in this title or any other provision of 

14 law shall be considered to prevent the Postal Service from 

15 taking whatever actions may be necessary to provide for 

16 5-day delivery of mail and a commensurate adjustment in 

17 rural delivery of mail, subject to the requirements of sec18 tion 3661.’’. 

19 SEC. 112. EFFICIENT AND FLEXIBLE UNIVERSAL POSTAL 

20 SERVICE. 

21 (a) POSTAL POLICY.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(b) is amended 

23 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(b) The Postal Service shall provide effective and 

2 regular postal services to rural areas, communities, and 

3 small towns where post offices are not self-sustaining.’’. 

4 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(A) Clause 

5 (iii) of section 404(d)(2)(A) is amended to read as 

6 follows: 

7 ‘‘(iii) whether such closing or consolidation 

8 is consistent with the policy of the Government, 

9 as stated in section 101(b), that the Postal 

10 Service shall provide effective and regular post11 al services to rural areas, communities, and 

12 small towns where post offices are not self-sus13 taining;’’. 

14 (B) Section 2401(b)(1) is amended (in the mat15 ter before subparagraph (A)), by striking ‘‘a max16 imum degree of’’. 

17 (b) GENERAL DUTY.—Paragraph (3) of section 

18 403(b) is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(3) to ensure that postal patrons throughout 

20 the Nation will, consistent with reasonable econo21 mies of postal operations, have ready access to es22 sential postal services.’’. 

23 (c) PRC REVIEW OF DETERMINATIONS TO CLOSE

24 OR CONSOLIDATE A POST OFFICE.— 


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1 (1) DEADLINE FOR REVIEW.—Section 

2 404(d)(5) is amended by striking ‘‘120 days’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘60 days’’. 

4 (2) EXCLUSION FROM REVIEW.—Section 404(d) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(7)(A) The appeals process set forth in paragraph 

7 (5) shall not apply to a determination of the Postal Service 

8 to close a post office if there is located, within 2 miles 

9 of such post office, a qualified contract postal unit. 

10 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph— 

11 ‘‘(i) the term ‘contract postal unit’ means a 

12 store or other place of business which— 

13 ‘‘(I) is not owned or operated by the Postal 

14 Service; and 

15 ‘‘(II) in addition to its usual operations, 

16 provides postal services to the general public 

17 under contract with the Postal Service; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘qualified contract postal unit’, as 

19 used in connection with a post office, means a con20 tract postal unit which— 

21 ‘‘(I) begins to provide postal services to the 

22 general public during the period— 

23 ‘‘(aa) beginning 1 year before the date 

24 on which the closure or consolidation of 


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1 such post office is scheduled to take effect; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(bb) ending on the 15th day after 

4 the date on which the closure or consolida5 tion of such post office is scheduled to take 

6 effect; and 

7 ‘‘(II) has not, pursuant to subparagraph 

8 (A), served as the basis for exempting any other 

9 post office from the appeals process set forth in 

10 paragraph (5). 

11 ‘‘(C)(i) If the contract postal unit (which is providing 

12 postal services that had been previously provided by the 

13 post office that was closed) does not continue to provide 

14 postal services, as required by subparagraph (B)(i)(II), for 

15 at least the 2-year period beginning on the date on which 

16 such post office was closed, the contract postal unit shall 

17 be subject to a closure determination by the Postal Service 

18 to decide whether a post office must be reopened within 

19 the area (delimited by the 2-mile radius referred to in sub20 paragraph (A)). 

21 ‘‘(ii) A decision under clause (i) not to reopen a post 

22 office may be appealed to the Postal Regulatory Commis23 sion under procedures which the Commission shall by reg24 ulation prescribe. Such procedures shall be based on para25 graph (5), except that, for purposes of this clause, paraVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:11 Jun 30, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2309.IH H2309

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1 graph (5)(C) shall be applied by substituting ‘in violation 

2 of section 101(b), leaving postal patrons without effective 

3 and regular access to postal services’ for ‘unsupported by 

4 substantial evidence on the record’.’’. 

5 (3) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made 

6 by this subsection shall not apply with respect to 

7 any appeal, notice of which is received by the Postal 

8 Regulatory Commission before the date of the enact9 ment of this Act (determined applying the rules set 

10 forth in section 404(d)(6) of title 39, United States 

11 Code). 

12 (d) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3661 is amended by 

14 adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(d)(1) The Commission shall issue its opinion within 

16 90 days after the receipt of any proposal (as referred to 

17 in subsection (b)) concerning— 

18 ‘‘(A) the closing or consolidation of post offices 

19 to a degree that will generally affect service on a na20 tionwide or substantially nationwide basis; or 

21 ‘‘(B) an identical or substantially identical pro22 posal on which the Commission issued an opinion 

23 within the preceding 5 years. 

24 ‘‘(2) If necessary in order to comply with the 90-day 

25 requirement under paragraph (1), the Commission may 


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1 apply expedited procedures which the Commission shall by 

2 regulation prescribe.’’. 

3 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Postal Regulatory 

4 Commission shall prescribe any regulations nec5 essary to carry out the amendment made by para6 graph (1) within 90 days after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act. 

8 (3) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

9 this subsection shall apply with respect to any pro10 posal received by the Postal Regulatory Commission 

11 on or after the earlier of— 

12 (A) the 90th day after the date of the en13 actment of this Act; or 

14 (B) the effective date of the regulations 

15 under paragraph (2). 

16 SEC. 113. MORE COST-EFFICIENT POSTAL SERVICE CON17 TRACTING. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 410 is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (4) 

20 and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(4) sections 3114–3116, 3118, 3131, and 

22 3133;’’; and 

23 (2) by striking subsection (d). 

24 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub25 section (a) shall be effective with respect to contracts and 


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1 agreements first entered into on or after the date of the 

2 enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 114. ENHANCED REPORTING ON POSTAL SERVICE EF4 FICIENCY. 

5 Section 3652(a) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

7 the semicolon; 

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

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding after paragraph (2) the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) which shall provide the overall change in 

12 Postal Service productivity and the resulting effect 

13 of such change on overall Postal Service costs during 

14 such year, using such methodologies as the Commis15 sion shall by regulation prescribe.’’. 

16 TITLE II—POSTAL SERVICE FI17 NANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 

18 AND MANAGEMENT ASSIST19 ANCE AUTHORITY 

20 Subtitle A—Establishment and 

21 Organization 

22 SEC. 201. PURPOSES. 

23 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are as fol24 lows: 


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1 (1) To eliminate budget deficits and cash short2 ages of the Postal Service through visionary finan3 cial planning, sound budgeting, accurate revenue 

4 forecasts, and careful spending. 

5 (2) To ensure the universal service mandate de6 tailed in section 101 of title 39, United States Code, 

7 is maintained during a period of fiscal emergency. 

8 (3) To conduct necessary investigations and 

9 studies to determine the fiscal status and oper10 ational efficiency of the Postal Service. 

11 (4) To assist the Postal Service in— 

12 (A) restructuring its organization and 

13 workforce to bring expenses in line with dimin14 ishing revenue and generate sufficient profits 

15 for capital investment and repayment of debt; 

16 (B) meeting all fiscal obligations to the 

17 Treasury of the United States; and 

18 (C) ensuring the appropriate and efficient 

19 delivery of postal services. 

20 (5) To provide the Postal Service with a tem21 porary increase in its borrowing authority to enable 

22 the Postal Service to complete necessary restruc23 turing. 


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1 (6) To ensure the long-term financial, fiscal, 

2 and economic vitality and operational efficiency of 

3 the Postal Service. 

4 (b) RESERVATION OF POWERS.—Nothing in this title 

5 may be construed— 

6 (1) to relieve any obligations existing as of the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act of the Postal Serv8 ice to the Treasury of the United States; or 

9 (2) to limit the authority of Congress to exer10 cise ultimate legislative authority over the Postal 

11 Service. 

12 SEC. 202. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AUTHORITY. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established, 

14 upon the commencement of any control period, an entity 

15 to be known as the ‘‘Postal Service Financial Responsi16 bility and Management Assistance Authority’’ (hereinafter 

17 in this title referred to as the ‘‘Authority’’). 

18 (b) CONTROL PERIOD.— 

19 (1) COMMENCEMENT OF A CONTROL PERIOD.— 

20 For purposes of this title, a control period com21 mences whenever the Postal Service has been in de22 fault to the Treasury of the United States, with re23 spect to any loans, bonds, notes, or other form of 

24 borrowing, for a period of at least 30 days. 


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1 (2) TREATMENT OF AUTHORITIES AND RESPON2 SIBILITIES OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS, ETC. 

3 DURING A CONTROL PERIOD.—During a control pe4 riod— 

5 (A) all authorities and responsibilities of 

6 the Board of Governors, and the individual 

7 Governors, of the Postal Service under title 39, 

8 United States Code, and any other provision of 

9 law shall be assumed by the Authority; and 

10 (B) the Board of Governors, and the indi11 vidual Governors, may act in an advisory capac12 ity only. 

13 (3) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN POSTAL SERVICE

14 EXECUTIVES DURING A CONTROL PERIOD.— 

15 (A) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of 

16 this section, the term ‘‘Level-Two Postal Serv17 ice Executive’’ includes the Postmaster General, 

18 the Deputy Postmaster General, and all other 

19 officers or employees of the Postal Service in 

20 level two of the Postal Career Executive Service 

21 (or the equivalent). 

22 (B) TREATMENT.—Notwithstanding any 

23 other provision of law or employment contract, 

24 during a control period— 


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1 (i) all Level-Two Postal Service Ex2 ecutives shall serve at the pleasure of the 

3 Authority; 

4 (ii) the duties and responsibilities of 

5 all Level-Two Postal Service Executives, as 

6 well as the terms and conditions of their 

7 employment (including their compensa8 tion), shall be subject to determination or 

9 redetermination by the Authority; 

10 (iii) total compensation of a Level11 Two Postal Service Executive may not, for 

12 any year in such control period, exceed the 

13 annual rate of basic pay payable for level 

14 I of the Executive Schedule under section 

15 5312 of title 5, United States Code, for 

16 such year; for purposes of this clause, the 

17 term ‘‘total compensation’’ means basic 

18 pay, bonuses, awards, and all other mone19 tary compensation; 

20 (iv) the percentage by which the rate 

21 of basic pay of a Level-Two Postal Service 

22 Executive is increased during any year in 

23 such control period may not exceed the 

24 percentage change in the Consumer Price 

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1 ed for seasonal variation, for the most re2 cent 12-month period available, except 

3 that, in the case of a Level-Two Postal 

4 Service Executive who has had a signifi5 cant change in job responsibilities, a great6 er change shall be allowable if approved by 

7 the Authority; 

8 (v) apart from basic pay, a Level-Two 

9 Postal Service Executive may not be af10 forded any bonus, award, or other mone11 tary compensation for any fiscal year in 

12 the control period if expenditures of the 

13 Postal Service for such fiscal year exceeded 

14 revenues of the Postal Service for such fis15 cal year (determined in accordance with 

16 generally accepted accounting principles); 

17 and 

18 (vi) no deferred compensation may be 

19 paid, accumulated, or recognized in the 

20 case of any Level-Two Postal Service Exec21 utive, with respect to any year in a control 

22 period, which is not generally paid, accu23 mulated, or recognized in the case of em24 ployees of the United States (outside of the 

25 Postal Service) in level I of the Executive 


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1 Schedule under section 5312 of title 5, 

2 United States Code, with respect to such 

3 year. 

4 (C) BONUS AUTHORITY.—Section 3686 of 

5 title 39, United States Code, shall, during the 

6 period beginning on the commencement date of 

7 the control period and ending on the termi8 nation date of the control period— 

9 (i) be suspended with respect to all 

10 Level-Two Postal Service Executives; but 

11 (ii) remain in effect for all other offi12 cers and employees of the Postal Service 

13 otherwise covered by this section. 

14 (4) TERMINATION OF A CONTROL PERIOD.— 

15 Subject to subtitle D, a control period terminates 

16 upon certification by the Authority, with the concur17 rence of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Di18 rector of the Office of Personnel Management, 

19 that— 

20 (A) for 2 consecutive fiscal years (occur21 ring after the date of the enactment of this 

22 Act), expenditures of the Postal Service did not 

23 exceed revenues of the Postal Service (as deter24 mined in accordance with generally accepted ac25 counting principles); 


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1 (B) the Authority has approved a Postal 

2 Service financial plan and budget that shows 

3 expenditures of the Postal Service not exceeding 

4 revenues of the Postal Service (as so deter5 mined) for the fiscal year to which such budget 

6 pertains and each of the next 3 fiscal years; 

7 and 

8 (C) the Postal Service financial plan and 

9 budget (as referred to in subparagraph (B)) in10 cludes plans— 

11 (i) for the repayment of any supple12 mentary debt under section 222, in equal 

13 annual installments over a period of not 

14 more than 10 years; and 

15 (ii) to properly fund Postal Service 

16 pensions and retiree health benefits in ac17 cordance with law. 

18 SEC. 203. MEMBERSHIP AND QUALIFICATION REQUIRE19 MENTS. 

20 (a) MEMBERSHIP.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Authority shall consist 

22 of 5 members appointed by the President who meet 

23 the qualifications described in subsection (b), except 

24 that the Authority may take any action under this 


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1 title at any time after the President has appointed 

2 4 of its members. 

3 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Of the 5 members so 

4 appointed— 

5 (A) 1 shall be appointed from among indi6 viduals recommended by the Speaker of the 

7 House of Representatives; 

8 (B) 1 shall be appointed from among indi9 viduals recommended by the majority leader of 

10 the Senate; 

11 (C) 1 shall be appointed from among indi12 viduals recommended by the minority leader of 

13 the House of Representatives; 

14 (D) 1 shall be appointed from among indi15 viduals recommended by the minority leader of 

16 the Senate; and 

17 (E) 1 shall be appointed from among indi18 viduals recommended by the Comptroller Gen19 eral. 

20 (3) POLITICAL AFFILIATION.—No more than 3 

21 members of the Authority may be of the same polit22 ical party. 

23 (4) CHAIR.—The President shall designate 1 of 

24 the members of the Authority as the Chair of the 

25 Authority. 


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1 (5) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING DEAD2 LINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—It is the sense of Con3 gress that the President should appoint the members 

4 of the Authority as soon as practicable after the 

5 date on which a control period commences, but no 

6 later than 30 days after such date. 

7 (6) TERM OF SERVICE.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

9 subparagraph (B), each member of the Author10 ity shall be appointed for a term of 3 years. 

11 (B) APPOINTMENT FOR TERM FOLLOWING

12 INITIAL TERM.—As designated by the President 

13 at the time of appointment for the term imme14 diately following the initial term, of the mem15 bers appointed for the term immediately fol16 lowing the initial term— 

17 (i) 1 member shall be appointed for a 

18 term of 1 year; 

19 (ii) 2 members shall be appointed for 

20 a term of 2 years; and 

21 (iii) 2 members shall be appointed for 

22 a term of 3 years. 

23 (C) REMOVAL.—The President may re24 move any member of the Authority only for 

25 cause. 


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1 (D) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.— 

2 Members of the Authority shall serve without 

3 pay, but may receive reimbursement for any 

4 reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by 

5 reason of service on the Authority. 

6 (b) QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual meets the 

8 qualifications for membership on the Authority if the 

9 individual— 

10 (A) has significant knowledge and exper11 tise in finance, management, and the organiza12 tion or operation of businesses having more 

13 than 500 employees; and 

14 (B) represents the public interest gen15 erally, is not a representative of specific inter16 ests using or belonging to the Postal Service, 

17 and does not have any business or financial in18 terest in any enterprise in the private sector of 

19 the economy engaged in the delivery of mail 

20 matter. 

21 (2) SPECIFIC CONDITIONS.—An individual shall 

22 not be considered to satisfy paragraph (1)(B) if, at 

23 any time during the 5-year period ending on the 

24 date of appointment, such individual— 


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1 (A) has been an officer, employee, or pri2 vate contractor with the Postal Service or the 

3 Postal Regulatory Commission; or 

4 (B) has served as an employee or con5 tractor of a labor organization representing em6 ployees of the Postal Service or the Postal Reg7 ulatory Commission. 

8 SEC. 204. ORGANIZATION. 

9 (a) ADOPTION OF BY-LAWS FOR CONDUCTING BUSI10 NESS.—As soon as practicable after the appointment of 

11 its members, the Authority shall adopt by-laws, rules, and 

12 procedures governing its activities under this title, includ13 ing procedures for hiring experts and consultants. Upon 

14 adoption, such by-laws, rules, and procedures shall be sub15 mitted by the Authority to the Postmaster General, the 

16 President, and Congress. 

17 (b) CERTAIN ACTIVITIES REQUIRING APPROVAL OF

18 MAJORITY OF MEMBERS.—Under its by-laws, the Author19 ity may conduct its operations under such procedures as 

20 it considers appropriate, except that an affirmative vote 

21 of a majority of the members of the Authority shall be 

22 required in order for the Authority to— 

23 (1) approve or disapprove a financial plan and 

24 budget as described by subtitle C; 


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1 (2) implement recommendations on financial 

2 stability and management responsibility under sec3 tion 226; 

4 (3) take any action under authority of section 

5 202(b)(3)(B)(i); 

6 (4) require the immediate renegotiation of an 

7 existing collective bargaining agreement in accord8 ance with section 211(g)(1); or 

9 (5) reject, modify, or terminate 1 or more terms 

10 of an existing collective bargaining agreement in ac11 cordance with section 211(g)(2). 

12 SEC. 205. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND STAFF. 

13 (a) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Authority shall 

14 have an Executive Director who shall be appointed by the 

15 Chair with the consent of the Authority. The Executive 

16 Director shall be paid at a rate determined by the Author17 ity, except that such rate may not exceed the rate of basic 

18 pay payable for level IV of the Executive Schedule under 

19 section 5315 of title 5, United States Code. 

20 (b) STAFF.—With the approval of the Authority, the 

21 Executive Director may appoint and fix the pay of such 

22 additional personnel as the Executive Director considers 

23 appropriate, except that no individual appointed by the 

24 Executive Director may be paid at a rate greater than the 

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1 pointed under this subsection shall serve at the pleasure 

2 of the Executive Director. 

3 (c) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

4 LAWS.—The Executive Director and staff of the Authority 

5 may be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 

6 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the 

7 competitive service, and paid without regard to the provi8 sions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of 

9 such title relating to classification and General Schedule 

10 pay rates. 

11 (d) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon request 

12 of the Chair, the head of any Federal department or agen13 cy may detail, on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis, 

14 any of the personnel of such department or agency to the 

15 Authority to assist it in carrying out its duties under this 

16 title. 

17 SEC. 206. FUNDING. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro19 priated, out of the Postal Service Fund, such sums as may 

20 be necessary for the Authority. In requesting an appro21 priation under this section for a fiscal year, the Authority 

22 shall prepare and submit to the Congress under section 

23 2009 of title 39, United States Code, a budget of the 

24 Authority’s expenses, including expenses for facilities, sup25 plies, compensation, and employee benefits not to exceed 


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1 $10,000,000. In years in which a control period com2 mences, the Authority shall submit a budget within 30 

3 days of the appointment of the members of the Authority. 

4 (b) AMENDMENT TO SECTION 2009.—Section 2009 

5 is amended in the next to last sentence— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘, and (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘, 

7 (3)’’; and 

8 (2) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘, and 

9 (4) the Postal Service Financial Responsibility and 

10 Management Assistance Authority requests to be ap11 propriated, out of the Postal Service Fund, under 

12 section 206 of the Postal Reform Act of 2011.’’. 

13 Subtitle B—Powers of the 

14 Authority 

15 SEC. 211. POWERS. 

16 (a) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any mem17 ber or agent of the Authority may, if authorized by the 

18 Authority, take any action which the Authority is author19 ized by this section to take. 

20 (b) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA FROM THE POSTAL

21 SERVICE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

22 the Authority may secure copies of such records, docu23 ments, information, or data from any entity of the Postal 

24 Service necessary to enable the Authority to carry out its 

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1 thority, the Authority shall be granted direct access to 

2 such information systems, records, documents, informa3 tion, or data as will enable the Authority to carry out its 

4 responsibilities under this title. The head of the relevant 

5 entity of the Postal Service shall provide the Authority 

6 with such information and assistance (including granting 

7 the Authority direct access to automated or other informa8 tion systems) as the Authority requires under this sub9 section. 

10 (c) GIFTS, BEQUESTS, AND DEVISES.—The Author11 ity may accept, use, and dispose of gifts, bequests, or de12 vises of services or property, both real and personal, for 

13 the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Au14 thority. Gifts, bequests, or devises of money and proceeds 

15 from sales of other property received as gifts, bequests, 

16 or devises shall be deposited in such account as the Au17 thority may establish and shall be available for disburse18 ment upon order of the Chair. 

19 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 

20 the request of the Authority, the Administrator of General 

21 Services may provide to the Authority, on a reimbursable 

22 basis, the administrative support services necessary for the 

23 Authority to carry out its responsibilities under this title. 

24 (e) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO CONTRACTS.—The 

25 Executive Director may enter into such contracts as the 


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1 Executive Director considers appropriate (subject to the 

2 approval of the Chair) to carry out the Authority’s respon3 sibilities under this title. 

4 (f) CIVIL ACTIONS TO ENFORCE POWERS.—The Au5 thority may seek judicial enforcement of its authority to 

6 carry out its responsibilities under this title. 

7 (g) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.—Notwithstanding 

8 any other provision of law— 

9 (1) the Authority may require the renegotiation 

10 of an existing collective bargaining agreement to 

11 achieve specific economic savings and workforce 

12 flexibility goals; and 

13 (2) after meeting and conferring with the ap14 propriate bargaining representative, the Authority 

15 may reject, modify, or terminate 1 or more terms or 

16 conditions of an existing collective bargaining agree17 ment if— 

18 (A) a prompt and satisfactory agreement 

19 under paragraph (1) is unlikely; and 

20 (B) in the judgment of the Authority, the 

21 rejection, modification, or termination— 

22 (i) is reasonable and necessary for the 

23 Postal Service to be a financially viable 

24 provider of universal postal service to the 

25 Nation; and 


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1 (ii) is designed to achieve the specific 

2 economic savings or workforce flexibility 

3 goals (as the case may be) referred to in 

4 paragraph (1). 

5 (h) PENALTIES.— 

6 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE DISCIPLINE.—Any officer 

7 or employee of the Postal Service who takes or fails 

8 to take any action which is noncompliant with any 

9 directive or other order of the Authority under sec10 tion 226(c) shall be subject to appropriate adminis11 trative discipline, including suspension from duty 

12 without pay or removal from office, by order of ei13 ther the Postmaster General or the Authority. 

14 (2) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Whenever an 

15 officer or employee of the Postal Service takes or 

16 fails to take any action which is noncompliant with 

17 any directive or other order of the Authority under 

18 section 226(c), the Postmaster General shall imme19 diately report to the Authority all pertinent facts, to20 gether with a statement of any actions taken by the 

21 Postmaster General or proposed by the Postmaster 

22 General to be taken under paragraph (1). 


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1 SEC. 212. EXEMPTION FROM LIABILITY FOR CLAIMS. 

2 The Authority and its members may not be liable for 

3 any obligation of or claim against the Postal Service re4 sulting from actions taken to carry out this title. 

5 SEC. 213. TREATMENT OF ACTIONS ARISING UNDER THIS 

6 TITLE. 

7 (a) JURISDICTION ESTABLISHED IN UNITED STATES

8 COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.— 

9 A person (including the Postal Service) adversely affected 

10 or aggrieved by an order or decision of the Authority may, 

11 within 30 days after such order or decision becomes final, 

12 institute proceedings for review thereof by filing a petition 

13 in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of 

14 Columbia. The court shall review the order or decision in 

15 accordance with section 706 of title 5, United States Code, 

16 and chapter 158 and section 2112 of title 28, United 

17 States Code, on the basis of the record before the Author18 ity. 

19 (b) PROMPT APPEAL TO THE SUPREME COURT.— 

20 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, review by the 

21 Supreme Court of the United States of a decision of the 

22 Court of Appeals which is issued pursuant to subsection 

23 (a) may be had only if the petition for such review is filed 

24 within 10 days after the entry of such decision. 

25 (c) TIMING OF RELIEF.—No order of any court 

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1 thority, including relief permitting or requiring the obliga2 tion, borrowing, or expenditure of funds, shall take effect 

3 during the pendency of the action before such court, dur4 ing the time appeal may be taken, or (if appeal is taken) 

5 during the period before the court has entered its final 

6 order disposing of such action. 

7 (d) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—It shall be the 

8 duty of the United States Court of Appeals for the District 

9 of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United States 

10 to advance on the docket and to expedite to the greatest 

11 possible extent the disposition of any matter brought 

12 under subsection (a). 

13 Subtitle C—Establishment and En14 forcement of Financial Plan and 

15 Budget for the Postal Service 

16 SEC. 221. DEVELOPMENT OF FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDG17 ET FOR THE POSTAL SERVICE. 

18 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDG19 ET.—For each fiscal year for which the Postal Service is 

20 in a control period, the Postmaster General shall develop 

21 and submit to the Authority a financial plan and budget 

22 for the Postal Service in accordance with this section. 

23 (b) CONTENTS OF FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET.— 

24 A financial plan and budget for the Postal Service for a 

25 fiscal year shall specify the budget for the Postal Service 


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1 as required by section 2009 of title 39, United States 

2 Code, for the applicable fiscal year and the next 3 fiscal 

3 years, in accordance with the following requirements: 

4 (1) The financial plan and budget shall meet 

5 the standards described in subsection (c) to promote 

6 the financial stability of the Postal Service. 

7 (2) The financial plan and budget shall— 

8 (A) include the Postal Service’s annual 

9 budget program (under section 2009 of title 39, 

10 United States Code) and the Postal Service’s 

11 plan commonly referred to as its ‘‘Integrated 

12 Financial Plan’’; 

13 (B) describe lump-sum expenditures by all 

14 categories traditionally used by the Postal Serv15 ice; 

16 (C) describe capital expenditures (together 

17 with a schedule of projected capital commit18 ments and cash outlays of the Postal Service 

19 and proposed sources of funding); 

20 (D) contain estimates of overall debt (both 

21 outstanding and anticipated to be issued); and 

22 (E) contain cash flow and liquidity fore23 casts for the Postal Service at such intervals as 

24 the Authority may require. 


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1 (3) The financial plan and budget shall include 

2 a statement describing methods of estimations and 

3 significant assumptions. 

4 (4) The financial plan and budget shall include 

5 any other provisions and shall meet such other cri6 teria as the Authority considers appropriate to meet 

7 the purposes of this title, including provisions for— 

8 (A) changes in personnel policies and levels 

9 for each component of the Postal Service; and 

10 (B) management initiatives to promote 

11 productivity, improvement in the delivery of 

12 services, or cost savings. 

13 (c) STANDARDS TO PROMOTE FINANCIAL STA14 BILITY.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The standards to promote 

16 the financial stability of the Postal Service applica17 ble to the financial plan and budget for a fiscal year 

18 are as follows: 

19 (A) In each fiscal year (following the first 

20 full fiscal year) in a control period, budgeted 

21 expenditures of the Postal Service for the fiscal 

22 year involved may not exceed budgeted revenues 

23 of the Postal Service for the fiscal year in24 volved. 


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1 (B) In each fiscal year in a control period, 

2 the Postal Service shall make continuous, sub3 stantial progress towards long-term fiscal sol4 vency and shall have either a lower deficit or 

5 greater surplus than in the previous fiscal year. 

6 (C) The Postal Service shall provide for 

7 the orderly liquidation of any supplementary 

8 debt under section 222. 

9 (D) The financial plan and budget shall 

10 assure the continuing long-term financial sta11 bility of the Postal Service, as indicated by fac12 tors such as the efficient management of the 

13 Postal Service’s workforce and the effective pro14 vision of services by the Postal Service. 

15 (2) APPLICATION OF SOUND BUDGETARY PRAC16 TICES.—In meeting the standard described in para17 graph (1) with respect to a financial plan and budg18 et for a fiscal year, the Postal Service shall apply 

19 sound budgetary practices, including reducing costs 

20 and other expenditures, improving productivity, in21 creasing revenues, or a combination of such prac22 tices. 

23 (3) ASSUMPTIONS BASED ON CURRENT LAW.— 

24 In meeting the standards described in paragraph (1) 

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1 cal year, the Postal Service shall base estimates of 

2 revenues and expenditures on Federal law as in ef3 fect at the time of the preparation of such financial 

4 plan and budget. 

5 SEC. 222. SUPPLEMENTARY BORROWING AUTHORITY DUR6 ING A CONTROL PERIOD. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the commencement of a 

8 control period, subject to the approval of the Authority, 

9 the Postal Service is authorized to borrow money and issue 

10 and sell such obligations as may be necessary to carry out 

11 the purposes of this title, to the same extent, in the same 

12 manner, and subject to the same terms and conditions as 

13 if the maximum amount allowable under the provisions of 

14 section 2005(a)(2) of title 39, United States Code, for the 

15 fiscal year involved were equal to the maximum amount 

16 which (but for this section) would otherwise be allowable 

17 under such provisions, increased by $10,000,000,000. 

18 (b) EXCLUSION.—The last sentence of section 

19 2005(a)(1) of title 39, United States Code, shall not apply 

20 with respect to any amounts borrowed or obligations 

21 issued or sold under authority of this section (which, but 

22 for subsection (a), would not otherwise have been allow23 able). 

24 (c) DEPOSIT.—Any amounts received under this sec25 tion shall be deposited in the Postal Service Fund. 


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1 (d) COLLATERAL.—For the purposes of funds ac2 quired under subsection (a), the Postal Service shall pro3 vide an appropriate level of collateral in the form of 

4 pledged Postal Service property assets. 

5 SEC. 223. PROCESS FOR SUBMISSION AND APPROVAL OF FI6 NANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year for which the 

8 Postal Service is in a control period, the Postmaster Gen9 eral shall submit to the Authority— 

10 (1) by February 1 before the start of such fiscal 

11 year, a preliminary financial plan and budget under 

12 section 221 for such fiscal year; and 

13 (2) by August 31 before the start of such fiscal 

14 year, a final financial plan and budget under section 

15 221 for such fiscal year. 

16 (b) REVIEW BY AUTHORITY.—Upon receipt of a fi17 nancial plan and budget under subsection (a) (whether 

18 preliminary or final), the Authority shall promptly review 

19 such financial plan and budget. In conducting the review, 

20 the Authority may request any additional information it 

21 considers necessary and appropriate to carry out its duties 

22 under this subtitle. 

23 (c) APPROVAL OF POSTMASTER GENERAL’S FINAN24 CIAL PLAN AND BUDGET.— 


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1 (1) CERTIFICATION TO POSTMASTER GEN2 ERAL.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Authority deter4 mines that the final financial plan and budget 

5 for the fiscal year submitted by the Postmaster 

6 General under subsection (a) meets the require7 ments of section 221— 

8 (i) the Authority shall approve the fi9 nancial plan and budget and shall provide 

10 the Postmaster General, the President, and 

11 Congress with a notice certifying its ap12 proval; and 

13 (ii) the Postmaster General shall 

14 promptly submit the annual budget pro15 gram to the Office of Management and 

16 Budget pursuant to section 2009 of title 

17 39, United States Code. 

18 (B) DEEMED APPROVAL AFTER 30 DAYS.— 

19 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the Authority 

20 has not provided the Postmaster General, 

21 the President, and Congress with a notice 

22 certifying approval under subparagraph 

23 (A)(i) or a statement of disapproval under 

24 subsection (d) before the expiration of the 

25 30-day period which begins on the date the 


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1 Authority receives the financial plan and 

2 budget from the Postmaster General under 

3 subsection (a), the Authority shall be 

4 deemed to have approved the financial plan 

5 and budget and to have provided the Post6 master General, the President, and Con7 gress with the notice certifying approval 

8 under subparagraph (A)(i). 

9 (ii) EXPLANATION OF FAILURE TO

10 RESPOND.—If clause (i) applies with re11 spect to a financial plan and budget, the 

12 Authority shall provide the Postmaster 

13 General, the President and Congress with 

14 an explanation for its failure to provide the 

15 notice certifying approval or the statement 

16 of disapproval during the 30-day period de17 scribed in such clause. 

18 (d) DISAPPROVAL OF POSTMASTER GENERAL’S

19 BUDGET.—If the Authority determines that the final fi20 nancial plan and budget for the fiscal year submitted by 

21 the Postmaster General under subsection (a) does not 

22 meet the requirements applicable under section 221, the 

23 Authority shall disapprove the financial plan and budget, 

24 and shall provide the Postmaster General, the President, 

25 and Congress with a statement containing— 


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1 (1) the reasons for such disapproval; 

2 (2) the amount of any shortfall in the budget 

3 or financial plan; and 

4 (3) any recommendations for revisions to the 

5 budget the Authority considers appropriate to ensure 

6 that the budget is consistent with the financial plan 

7 and budget. 

8 (e) AUTHORITY REVIEW OF POSTMASTER GEN9 ERAL’S REVISED FINAL FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDG10 ET.— 

11 (1) SUBMISSION OF POSTMASTER GENERAL’S

12 REVISED FINAL FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET.— 

13 Not later than 15 days after receiving the statement 

14 from the Authority under subsection (d), the Post15 master General shall promptly adopt a revised final 

16 financial plan and budget for the fiscal year which 

17 addresses the reasons for the Authority’s disapproval 

18 cited in the statement, and shall submit such finan19 cial plan and budget to the Authority. 

20 (2) APPROVAL OF POSTMASTER GENERAL’S RE21 VISED FINAL FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET.—If, 

22 after reviewing the revised final financial plan and 

23 budget for a fiscal year submitted by the Postmaster 

24 General under paragraph (1) in accordance with the 

25 procedures described in this section, the Authority 


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1 determines that the revised final financial plan and 

2 budget meets the requirements applicable under sec3 tion 221— 

4 (A) the Authority shall approve the finan5 cial plan and budget and shall provide the Post6 master General, the President, and Congress 

7 with a notice certifying its approval; and 

8 (B) the Postmaster General shall promptly 

9 submit the annual budget program to the Office 

10 of Management and Budget pursuant to section 

11 2009 of title 39, United States Code. 

12 (3) DISAPPROVAL OF POSTMASTER GENERAL’S

13 REVISED FINAL FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—If, after reviewing the 

15 revised final financial plan and budget for a fis16 cal year submitted by the Postmaster General 

17 under paragraph (1) in accordance with the 

18 procedures described in this subsection, the Au19 thority determines that the revised final finan20 cial plan and budget does not meet the applica21 ble requirements under section 221, the Author22 ity shall— 

23 (i) disapprove the financial plan and 

24 budget; 


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1 (ii) provide the Postmaster General, 

2 the President, and Congress with a state3 ment containing the reasons for such dis4 approval and describing the amount of any 

5 shortfall in the financial plan and budget; 

6 and 

7 (iii) approve and recommend a finan8 cial plan and budget for the Postal Service 

9 which meets the applicable requirements 

10 under section 221, and submit such finan11 cial plan and budget to the Postmaster 

12 General, the President, and Congress. 

13 (B) SUBMISSION TO OMB.—Upon receipt 

14 of the recommended financial plan and budget 

15 subparagraph (A)(iii), the Postmaster General 

16 shall promptly submit the recommended annual 

17 budget program to the Office of Management 

18 and Budget pursuant to section 2009 of title 

19 39, United States Code. 

20 (4) DEEMED APPROVAL AFTER 15 DAYS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Authority has 

22 not provided the Postmaster General, the Presi23 dent, and Congress with a notice certifying ap24 proval under paragraph (2)(A) or a statement 

25 of disapproval under paragraph (3) before the 


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1 expiration of the 15-day period which begins on 

2 the date the Authority receives the revised final 

3 financial plan and budget submitted by the 

4 Postmaster General under paragraph (1), the 

5 Authority shall be deemed to have approved the 

6 revised final financial plan and budget and to 

7 have provided the Postmaster General, the 

8 President, and Congress with the notice certi9 fying approval described in paragraph (2)(A). 

10 (B) EXPLANATION OF FAILURE TO RE11 SPOND.—If subparagraph (A) applies with re12 spect to a financial plan and budget, the Au13 thority shall provide the Postmaster General, 

14 the President and Congress with an explanation 

15 for its failure to provide the notice certifying 

16 approval or the statement of disapproval during 

17 the 15-day period described in such subpara18 graph. 

19 (f) DEADLINE FOR TRANSMISSION OF FINANCIAL

20 PLAN AND BUDGET BY AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding 

21 any other provision of this section, not later than June 

22 15 before each fiscal year which is a control period, the 

23 Authority shall— 

24 (1) provide Congress with a notice certifying its 

25 approval of the Postmaster General’s initial financial 


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1 plan and budget for the fiscal year under subsection 

2 (c)(1); 

3 (2) provide Congress with a notice certifying its 

4 approval of the Postmaster General’s revised final fi5 nancial plan and budget for the fiscal year under 

6 subsection (e)(2); or 

7 (3) submit to Congress an approved and rec8 ommended financial plan and budget of the Author9 ity for the Postal Service for the fiscal year under 

10 subsection (e)(3)(A)(iii). 

11 (g) REVISIONS TO FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET.— 

12 (1) PERMITTING POSTMASTER GENERAL TO

13 SUBMIT REVISIONS.—The Postmaster General may 

14 submit proposed revisions to the financial plan and 

15 budget for a control period to the Authority at any 

16 time during the year. 

17 (2) PROCESS FOR REVIEW, APPROVAL, DIS18 APPROVAL, AND POSTMASTER GENERAL ACTION.— 

19 Except as provided in paragraph (3), the procedures 

20 described in subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) shall 

21 apply with respect to a proposed revision to a finan22 cial plan and budget in the same manner as such 

23 procedures apply with respect to the original finan24 cial plan and budget. 


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1 (3) EXCEPTION FOR REVISIONS NOT AFFECT2 ING SPENDING.—To the extent that a proposed revi3 sion to a financial plan and budget adopted by the 

4 Postmaster General pursuant to this subsection does 

5 not increase the amount of spending with respect to 

6 any account of the Postal Service, the revision shall 

7 become effective upon the Authority’s approval of 

8 such revision. 

9 SEC. 224. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE AUTHORITY. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Authority shall direct the ex11 ercise of the powers of the Postal Service, including— 

12 (1) determining its vision and overall strategies; 

13 (2) determining its organizational structure, 

14 particularly for senior management at the level of 

15 vice president and higher; 

16 (3) hiring, monitoring, compensating, and, 

17 when necessary, replacing senior management at the 

18 level of vice president and higher, as well as ensur19 ing adequate succession planning for these positions; 

20 (4) approving major policies, particularly those 

21 that have an important effect on the Postal Service’s 

22 financial position and the provision of universal 

23 postal service; 

24 (5) approving corporate budgets, financial and 

25 capital plans, operational and service performance 


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1 standards and targets, human resources strategies, 

2 collective bargaining strategies, negotiation param3 eters, and collective bargaining agreements, and the 

4 compensation structure for nonbargaining employ5 ees; 

6 (6) approving substantial capital projects and 

7 any substantial disposition of capital assets, such as 

8 surplus property; 

9 (7) approving changes in rates and classifica10 tions, new products and services, policy regarding 

11 other substantial matters before the Postal Regu12 latory Commission, and any appeals of its decisions 

13 or orders to the Federal courts; 

14 (8) approving the Postal Service Annual Re15 port, Annual Comprehensive Statement, and stra16 tegic plans, performance plans, and performance 

17 program reports under chapter 28 of title 39, 

18 United States Code; 

19 (9) formulating and communicating organiza20 tional policy and positions on legislative and other 

21 public policy matters to Congress and the public; 

22 (10) ensuring organizational responsiveness to 

23 oversight by Congress, the Postal Regulatory Com24 mission, the Treasury of the United States, and 

25 other audit entities; 


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1 (11) ensuring adequate internal controls and 

2 selecting, monitoring, and compensating an inde3 pendent public accounting firm to conduct an annual 

4 audit of the Postal Service; and 

5 (12) carrying out any responsibility, not other6 wise listed in this subsection, that was the responsi7 bility of the Board of Governors at any time during 

8 the 5-year period ending on the date of the enact9 ment of this Act. 

10 (b) REVIEW OF POSTAL SERVICE PROPOSALS.— 

11 (1) SUBMISSION OF POSTAL SERVICE PRO12 POSALS TO THE AUTHORITY.—During a control pe13 riod, the Postmaster General shall submit to the Au14 thority any proposal that has a substantial effect on 

15 any item listed in subsection (a). 

16 (2) PROMPT REVIEW BY AUTHORITY.—Upon re17 ceipt of a proposal from the Postmaster General 

18 under paragraph (1), the Authority shall promptly 

19 review the proposal to determine whether it is con20 sistent with the applicable financial plan and budget 

21 approved under this title. 

22 (3) ACTIONS BY AUTHORITY.— 

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1 ity shall notify the Postmaster General that it 

2 approves the proposal. 

3 (B) FINDING OF INCONSISTENCY.—If the 

4 Authority determines that a proposal is signifi5 cantly inconsistent with the applicable financial 

6 plan and budget, the Authority shall— 

7 (i) notify the Postmaster General of 

8 its finding; 

9 (ii) provide the Postmaster General 

10 with an explanation of the reasons for its 

11 finding; and 

12 (iii) to the extent the Authority con13 siders appropriate, provide the Postmaster 

14 General with recommendations for modi15 fications to the proposal. 

16 (4) DEEMED APPROVAL.—If the Authority does 

17 not notify the Postmaster General that it approves 

18 or disapproves a proposal submitted under this sub19 section during the 7-day period which begins on the 

20 date the Postmaster General submits the proposal to 

21 the Authority, the Authority shall be deemed to have 

22 approved the proposal in accordance with paragraph 

23 (3)(A). At the option of the Authority, the previous 

24 sentence shall be applied as if the reference in such 

25 sentence to ‘‘7-day period’’ were a reference to ‘‘14- 


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1 day period’’ if, during the 7-day period referred to 

2 in the preceding sentence, the Authority so notifies 

3 the Postmaster General. 

4 (c) EFFECT OF APPROVED FINANCIAL PLAN AND

5 BUDGET ON CONTRACTS AND LEASES.— 

6 (1) MANDATORY PRIOR APPROVAL FOR CER7 TAIN CONTRACTS AND LEASES.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a con9 tract or lease described in subparagraph (B) 

10 which is proposed to be entered into, renewed, 

11 modified, or extended by the Postal Service dur12 ing a control period, the Postmaster General 

13 (or the appropriate officer or agent of the Post14 al Service) shall submit the proposed contract 

15 or lease to the Authority. The Authority shall 

16 review each contract or lease submitted under 

17 this subparagraph, and the Postmaster General 

18 (or the appropriate officer or agent of the Post19 al Service) may not enter into the contract or 

20 lease unless the Authority determines that the 

21 proposed contract or lease is consistent with the 

22 financial plan and budget for the fiscal year. 

23 (B) CONTRACTS AND LEASES DE24 SCRIBED.—A contract or lease described in this 

25 subparagraph is— 


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1 (i) a labor contract entered into 

2 through collective bargaining; or 

3 (ii) such other type of contract or 

4 lease as the Authority may specify for pur5 poses of this subparagraph. 

6 (2) AUTHORITY TO REVIEW OTHER CONTRACTS

7 AFTER EXECUTION.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the prior 

9 approval of certain contracts and leases, the 

10 Postal Service shall submit to the Authority— 

11 (i) any Level-Two Post Career Execu12 tive Service employee contract that is in ef13 fect during a control period; and 

14 (ii) any collective bargaining agree15 ment entered into by the Postal Service 

16 that is in effect during a control period. 

17 Any such contract or agreement shall be sub18 mitted to the Authority upon the commence19 ment of a control period and at such other 

20 times as the Authority may require. 

21 (B) REVIEW BY AUTHORITY.—The Author22 ity shall review each contract submitted under 

23 subparagraph (A) to determine if the contract 

24 is consistent with the financial plan and budget 

25 for the fiscal year. If the Authority determines 


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1 that the contract is not consistent with the fi2 nancial plan and budget, the Authority shall 

3 take such actions as are within the Authority’s 

4 powers to revise the contract. 

5 SEC. 225. EFFECT OF FINDING NONCOMPLIANCE WITH FI6 NANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET. 

7 (a) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.—Not later than 30 

8 days after the expiration of each quarter of each fiscal 

9 year beginning in a control period, the Postmaster General 

10 shall submit reports to the Authority describing the actual 

11 revenues obtained and expenditures made by the Postal 

12 Service during the quarter with its cash flows during the 

13 quarter, and comparing such actual revenues, expendi14 tures, and cash flows with the most recent projections for 

15 these items. 

16 (b) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—If the Authority 

17 determines, based on reports submitted by the Postmaster 

18 General under subsection (a), independent audits, or such 

19 other information as the Authority may obtain, that the 

20 revenues or expenditures of the Postal Service during a 

21 control period are not consistent with the financial plan 

22 and budget for the year, the Authority shall require the 

23 Postmaster General to provide such additional information 

24 as the Authority determines to be necessary to explain the 

25 inconsistency. 


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1 (c) CERTIFICATION OF VARIANCE.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—After requiring the Post3 master General to provide additional information 

4 under subsection (b), the Authority shall certify to 

5 the Postmaster General, the President, the Secretary 

6 of the Treasury, and Congress that the Postal Serv7 ice is at variance with the financial plan and budget 

8 unless— 

9 (A) the additional information provides an 

10 explanation for the inconsistency which the Au11 thority finds reasonable and appropriate; or 

12 (B)(i) the Postal Service adopts or imple13 ments remedial action (including revising the fi14 nancial plan and budget pursuant to section 

15 223(g)) to correct the inconsistency which the 

16 Authority finds reasonable and appropriate, 

17 taking into account the terms of the financial 

18 plan and budget; and 

19 (ii) the Postmaster General agrees to sub20 mit the reports described in subsection (a) on 

21 a monthly basis for such period as the Author22 ity may require. 

23 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR INCONSISTENCIES AT24 TRIBUTABLE TO ACTS OF CONGRESS.— 


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1 (A) DETERMINATION BY AUTHORITY.—If 

2 the Authority determines that the revenues or 

3 expenditures of the Postal Service during a con4 trol period are not consistent with the financial 

5 plan and budget for the year as approved by 

6 the Authority under section 223 as a result of 

7 the terms and conditions of any law enacted by 

8 Congress which affects the Postal Service, the 

9 Authority shall so notify the Postmaster Gen10 eral. 

11 (B) CERTIFICATION.—In the case of an in12 consistency described in subparagraph (A), the 

13 Authority shall certify to the Postmaster Gen14 eral, the President, the Secretary of the Treas15 ury, and Congress that the Postal Service is at 

16 variance with the financial plan and budget un17 less the Postal Service adopts or implements re18 medial action (including revising the financial 

19 plan and budget pursuant to section 202(e)) to 

20 correct the inconsistency which the Authority 

21 finds reasonable and appropriate, taking into 

22 account the terms of the financial plan and 

23 budget. 

24 (d) EFFECT OF CERTIFICATION.—If the Authority 

25 certifies to the Secretary of the Treasury that a variance 


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1 exists the Authority or the Secretary may withhold access 

2 by the Postal Service to additional supplementary debt au3 thorized by this title. 

4 SEC. 226. RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING FINANCIAL 

5 STABILITY, ETC. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Authority may at any time 

7 submit recommendations to the Postmaster General, the 

8 President, and Congress on actions the Postal Service or 

9 any other entity of the Federal Government should take 

10 to ensure compliance by the Postal Service with a financial 

11 plan and budget or to otherwise promote the financial sta12 bility, management responsibility, and service delivery effi13 ciency of the Postal Service, including recommendations 

14 relating to— 

15 (1) the management of the Postal Service’s fi16 nancial affairs, including cash forecasting, informa17 tion technology, placing controls on expenditures for 

18 personnel, reducing benefit costs, reforming procure19 ment practices, and placing other controls on ex20 penditures; 

21 (2) the relationship between the Postal Service 

22 and other entities of the Federal Government; 

23 (3) the structural relationship of subdivisions 

24 within the Postal Service; 


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1 (4) the modification of existing revenue struc2 tures, or the establishment of additional revenue 

3 structures; 

4 (5) the establishment of alternatives for meet5 ing obligations to pay for the pensions and retire6 ment benefits of current and future Postal Service 

7 retirees; 

8 (6) modifications of services which are the re9 sponsibility of and are delivered by the Postal Serv10 ice; 

11 (7) modifications of the types of services which 

12 are delivered by entities other than the Postal Serv13 ice under alternative service delivery mechanisms; 

14 (8) the effects of Federal Government laws and 

15 court orders on the operations of the Postal Service; 

16 (9) the increased use of a personnel system for 

17 employees of the Postal Service which is based upon 

18 employee performance standards; and 

19 (10) the improvement of personnel training and 

20 proficiency, the adjustment of staffing levels, and 

21 the improvement of training and performance of 

22 management and supervisory personnel. 

23 (b) RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTIONS

24 WITHIN AUTHORITY OF POSTAL SERVICE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any rec2 ommendations submitted under subsection (a) dur3 ing a control year which are within the authority of 

4 the Postal Service to adopt, not later than 90 days 

5 after receiving the recommendations, the Postmaster 

6 General shall submit a statement to the Authority, 

7 the President, and Congress which provides notice as 

8 to whether the Postal Service will adopt the rec9 ommendations. 

10 (2) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN REQUIRED FOR

11 ADOPTED RECOMMENDATIONS.—If the Postmaster 

12 General notifies the Authority and Congress under 

13 paragraph (1) that the Postal Service will adopt any 

14 of the recommendations submitted under subsection 

15 (a), the Postmaster General shall include in the 

16 statement a written plan to implement the rec17 ommendation which includes— 

18 (A) specific performance measures to de19 termine the extent to which the Postal Service 

20 has adopted the recommendation; and 

21 (B) a schedule for auditing the Postal 

22 Service’s compliance with the plan. 

23 (3) EXPLANATIONS REQUIRED FOR REC24 OMMENDATIONS NOT ADOPTED.—If the Postmaster 

25 General notifies the Authority, the President, and 


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1 Congress under paragraph (1) that the Postal Serv2 ice will not adopt any recommendation submitted 

3 under subsection (a) which the Postal Service has 

4 authority to adopt, the Postmaster General shall in5 clude in the statement explanations for the rejection 

6 of the recommendations. 

7 (c) IMPLEMENTATION OF REJECTED RECOMMENDA8 TIONS BY AUTHORITY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Postmaster General 

10 notifies the Authority, the President, and Congress 

11 under subsection (b)(1) that the Postal Service will 

12 not adopt any recommendation submitted under sub13 section (a) which the Postal Service has authority to 

14 adopt, the Authority may by a majority vote of its 

15 members take such action concerning the rec16 ommendation as it deems appropriate, after con17 sulting with the Committee on Oversight and Gov18 ernment Reform of the House of Representatives 

19 and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov20 ernmental Affairs of the Senate. 

21 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

22 apply with respect to recommendations of the Au23 thority made after the expiration of the 6-month pe24 riod which begins on the date of the commencement 

25 of a control period. 


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1 SEC. 227. SPECIAL RULES FOR FISCAL YEAR IN WHICH 

2 CONTROL PERIOD COMMENCES. 

3 (a) ADOPTION OF TRANSITION BUDGET.—Notwith4 standing any provision of section 223 to the contrary, in 

5 the case of a fiscal year in which a control period com6 mences, the following rules shall apply: 

7 (1) Not later than 45 days after the appoint8 ment of its members, the Authority shall review the 

9 proposed Integrated Financial Plan for the Postal 

10 Service for such fiscal year and shall submit any rec11 ommendations for modifications to such plan to pro12 mote the financial stability of the Postal Service to 

13 the Postmaster General, the President, and Con14 gress. 

15 (2) Not later than 15 days after receiving the 

16 recommendations of the Authority submitted under 

17 paragraph (1), the Postmaster General shall 

18 promptly adopt a revised budget for the fiscal year 

19 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘transition budg20 et’’), and shall submit the transition budget to the 

21 Authority, the President, and Congress. 

22 (3) Not later than 15 days after receiving the 

23 transition budget from the Postmaster General 

24 under paragraph (2), the Authority shall submit a 

25 report to the Postmaster General, the President, and 

26 Congress analyzing the budget (taking into account 


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1 any items or provisions disapproved by the Post2 master General) and shall include in the report such 

3 recommendations for revisions to the transition 

4 budget as the Authority considers appropriate to 

5 promote the financial stability of the Postal Service 

6 during the fiscal year. 

7 (b) FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET.— 

8 (1) DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION.—For purposes 

9 of section 223, the Postmaster General shall submit 

10 the financial plan and budget for the applicable fis11 cal year as soon as practicable after the initiation of 

12 a control period (in accordance with guidelines es13 tablished by the Authority). 

14 (2) ADOPTION BY POSTMASTER GENERAL.—In 

15 accordance with the procedures applicable under sec16 tion 223 (including procedures providing for review 

17 by the Authority) the Postmaster General shall 

18 adopt the financial plan and budget for the applica19 ble fiscal year (including the transition budget incor20 porated in the financial plan and budget) prior to 

21 the submission by the Postmaster General. 

22 (3) TRANSITION BUDGET AS TEMPORARY FI23 NANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET.—Until the approval of 

24 the financial plan and budget for the applicable fis25 cal year by the Authority under this subsection, the 


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1 transition budget established under subsection (a) 

2 shall serve as the financial plan and budget adopted 

3 under this subtitle for purposes of this Act (and any 

4 provision of law amended by this Act) for the appli5 cable fiscal year. 

6 SEC. 228. ASSISTANCE IN ACHIEVING FINANCIAL STA7 BILITY, ETC. 

8 In addition to any other actions described in this title, 

9 the Authority may undertake cooperative efforts to assist 

10 the Postal Service in achieving financial stability and man11 agement efficiency, including— 

12 (1) assisting the Postal Service in avoiding de13 faults, eliminating and liquidating deficits, maintain14 ing sound budgetary practices, and avoiding inter15 ruptions in the delivery of services; 

16 (2) assisting the Postal Service in improving 

17 the delivery of services, the training and effective18 ness of personnel of the Postal Service, and the effi19 ciency of management and supervision; and 

20 (3) making recommendations to the President 

21 for transmission to Congress on changes to this Act 

22 or other Federal laws, or other actions of the Fed23 eral Government, which would assist the Postal 

24 Service in complying with an approved financial plan 

25 and budget under subtitle B. 


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1 SEC. 229. OBTAINING REPORTS. 

2 The Authority may require the Postmaster General, 

3 the Chief Financial Officer of the Postal Service, and the 

4 Inspector General of the Postal Service, to prepare and 

5 submit such reports as the Authority considers appro6 priate to assist it in carrying out its responsibilities under 

7 this title, including submitting copies of any reports re8 garding revenues, expenditures, budgets, costs, plans, op9 erations, estimates, and other financial or budgetary mat10 ters of the Postal Service. 

11 SEC. 230. REPORTS AND COMMENTS. 

12 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

13 than 30 days after the last day of each fiscal year which 

14 is a control year, the Authority shall submit a report to 

15 Congress describing— 

16 (1) the progress made by the Postal Service in 

17 meeting the objectives of this title during the fiscal 

18 year; 

19 (2) the assistance provided by the Authority to 

20 the Postal Service in meeting the purposes of this 

21 title for the fiscal year; and 

22 (3) any other activities of the Authority during 

23 the fiscal year. 

24 (b) REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF PERFORMANCE AND

25 FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY REPORTS.—The Authority 

26 shall review each yearly report prepared and submitted by 


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1 the Postmaster General to the Postal Regulatory Commis2 sion and Congress and shall submit a report to Congress 

3 analyzing the completeness and accuracy of such reports. 

4 (c) COMMENTS REGARDING ACTIVITIES OF POSTAL

5 SERVICE.—At any time during a control period, the Au6 thority may submit a report to Congress describing any 

7 action taken by the Postal Service (or any failure to act 

8 by the Postal Service) which the Authority determines will 

9 adversely affect the Postal Service’s ability to comply with 

10 an approved financial plan and budget under subtitle B 

11 or will otherwise have a significant adverse impact on the 

12 best interests of the Postal Service. 

13 (d) REPORTS ON EFFECT OF FEDERAL LAWS ON

14 THE POSTAL SERVICE.—At any time during any year, the 

15 Authority may submit a report to the Postmaster General, 

16 the President, and Congress on the effect of laws enacted 

17 by Congress on the financial plan and budget for the year 

18 and on the financial stability and management efficiency 

19 of the Postal Service in general. 

20 (e) MAKING REPORTS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—The 

21 Authority shall make any report submitted under this sec22 tion available to the public, except to the extent that the 

23 Authority determines that the report contains confidential 

24 material. 


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1 Subtitle D—Termination of a 

2 Control Period 

3 SEC. 231. TERMINATION OF CONTROL PERIOD, ETC. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—After the completion of the re5 quirements for the termination of a control period de6 scribed in section 202(b)(4), the Authority shall submit 

7 a recommendation to Congress requesting the termination 

8 of such control period, the dissolution of the Authority, 

9 and the reinstatement to the Board of Governors (and the 

10 individual Governors) of the Postal Service of the authori11 ties and responsibilities referred to in section 

12 202(b)(2)(A). 

13 (b) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—A control period shall not be 

15 terminated unless a joint resolution approving of the 

16 recommendation in subsection (a) is enacted, in ac17 cordance with section 232, before the earlier of— 

18 (A) the end of the 30-day period beginning 

19 on the date on which the Authority transmits 

20 the recommendation to Congress under sub21 section (a); or 

22 (B) the adjournment of the Congress sine 

23 die for the session during which such rec24 ommendation is transmitted. 


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1 (2) DAYS OF SESSION.—For purposes of para2 graph (1) and subsections (a) and (c) of section 232, 

3 the days on which either House of Congress is not 

4 in session because of an adjournment of more than 

5 3 days to a day certain shall be excluded in the com6 putation of a period. 

7 SEC. 232. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF REC8 OMMENDATION. 

9 (a) TERMS OF THE RESOLUTION.—For purposes of 

10 this subtitle, the term ‘‘joint resolution’’ means only a 

11 joint resolution which is introduced within the 10-day pe12 riod beginning on the date on which the recommendation 

13 referred to in section 231(a) is received by Congress— 

14 (1) the matter after the resolving clause of 

15 which is as follows: ‘‘That Congress approves the 

16 recommendation of the Postal Service Financial Re17 sponsibility and Management Assistance Authority, 

18 submitted by such Authority on ll.’’, the blank 

19 space being filled in with the appropriate date; 

20 (2) the title of which is as follows: ‘‘Joint reso21 lution approving the recommendation of Postal Serv22 ice Financial Responsibility and Management Assist23 ance Authority.’’; and 

24 (3) which does not have a preamble. 


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1 (b) REFERRAL.—A resolution described in subsection 

2 (a) that is introduced in the House of Representatives or 

3 the Senate shall be referred to the appropriate committees 

4 of the House of Representatives or the Senate, respec5 tively. 

6 (c) DISCHARGE.—If the committee to which a resolu7 tion described in subsection (a) is referred has not re8 ported such resolution (or an identical resolution) by the 

9 end of the 20-day period beginning on the date on which 

10 the Authority transmits its recommendation to Congress 

11 under section 231(a) such committee shall, at the end of 

12 such period, be discharged from further consideration of 

13 such resolution, and such resolution shall be placed on the 

14 appropriate calendar of the House involved. 

15 (d) CONSIDERATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—On or after the third day 

17 after the date on which the committee to which such 

18 a resolution is referred has reported, or has been 

19 discharged (under subsection (c)) from further con20 sideration of, such a resolution, it is in order (even 

21 though a previous motion to the same effect has 

22 been disagreed to) for any Member of the respective 

23 House to move to proceed to the consideration of the 

24 resolution. A Member may make the motion only on 

25 the day after the calendar day on which the Member 


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1 announces to the House concerned the Member’s in2 tention to make the motion, except that, in the case 

3 of the House of Representatives, the motion may be 

4 made without such prior announcement if the mo5 tion is made by direction of the committee to which 

6 the resolution was referred. All points of order 

7 against the resolution (and against consideration of 

8 the resolution) are waived. The motion is highly 

9 privileged in the House of Representatives and is 

10 privileged in the Senate and is not debatable. The 

11 motion is not subject to amendment, or to a motion 

12 to postpone, or to a motion to proceed to the consid13 eration of other business. A motion to reconsider the 

14 vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed 

15 to shall not be in order. If a motion to proceed to 

16 the consideration of the resolution is agreed to, the 

17 respective House shall immediately proceed to con18 sideration of the joint resolution without intervening 

19 motion, order, or other business, and the resolution 

20 shall remain the unfinished business of the respec21 tive House until disposed of. 

22 (2) DEBATE.—Debate on the resolution, and on 

23 all debatable motions and appeals in connection 

24 therewith, shall be limited to not more than 2 hours, 

25 which shall be divided equally between those favoring 


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1 and those opposing the resolution. An amendment to 

2 the resolution is not in order. A motion further to 

3 limit debate is in order and not debatable. A motion 

4 to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consider5 ation of other business, or a motion to recommit the 

6 resolution is not in order. A motion to reconsider the 

7 vote by which the resolution is agreed to or dis8 agreed to is not in order. 

9 (3) VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE.—Immediately 

10 following the conclusion of the debate on a resolu11 tion described in subsection (a) and a single quorum 

12 call at the conclusion of the debate if requested in 

13 accordance with the rules of the appropriate House, 

14 the vote on final passage of the resolution shall 

15 occur. 

16 (4) APPEALS.—Appeals from the decisions of 

17 the Chair relating to the application of the rules of 

18 the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the 

19 case may be, to the procedure relating to a resolu20 tion described in subsection (a) shall be decided 

21 without debate. 

22 (e) CONSIDERATION BY OTHER HOUSE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, before the passage by one 

24 House of a resolution of that House described in 

25 subsection (a), that House receives from the other 


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1 House a resolution described in subsection (a), then 

2 the following procedures shall apply: 

3 (A) The resolution of the other House shall 

4 not be referred to a committee and may not be 

5 considered in the House receiving it except in 

6 the case of final passage as provided in sub7 paragraph (B)(ii). 

8 (B) With respect to a resolution described 

9 in subsection (a) of the House receiving the res10 olution— 

11 (i) the procedure in that House shall 

12 be the same as if no resolution had been 

13 received from the other House; but 

14 (ii) the vote on final passage shall be 

15 on the resolution of the other House. 

16 (2) DISPOSITION OF A RESOLUTION.—Upon 

17 disposition of the resolution received from the other 

18 House, it shall no longer be in order to consider the 

19 resolution that originated in the receiving House. 

20 (f) RULES OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE.—This sec21 tion is enacted by Congress— 

22 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

23 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec24 tively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules 

25 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 


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1 respect to the procedure to be followed in that 

2 House in the case of a resolution described in sub3 section (a), and it supersedes other rules only to the 

4 extent that it is inconsistent with such rules; and 

5 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

6 right of either House to change the rules (so far as 

7 relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, 

8 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

9 the case of any other rule of that House. 

10 TITLE III—POSTAL SERVICE 

11 WORKFORCE 

12 Subtitle A—General Provisions 

13 SEC. 301. MODIFICATIONS RELATING TO DETERMINATION 

14 OF PAY COMPARABILITY. 

15 (a) POSTAL POLICY.—Section 101(c) is amended— 

16 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘total’’ 

17 before ‘‘rates and types of compensation’’; and 

18 (2) in the second sentence, by inserting ‘‘en19 tire’’ before ‘‘private sector’’. 

20 (b) EMPLOYMENT POLICY.—The second sentence of 

21 section 1003(a) is amended— 

22 (1) by inserting ‘‘total’’ before ‘‘compensation 

23 and benefits’’; and 

24 (2) by inserting ‘‘entire’’ before ‘‘private sec25 tor’’. 


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1 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—For purposes of the amend2 ments made by this section, any determination of ‘‘total 

3 rates and types of compensation’’ or ‘‘total compensation 

4 and benefits’’ shall, at a minimum, take into account pay, 

5 health benefits, retirement benefits, life insurance benefits, 

6 leave, holidays, and continuity and stability of employ7 ment. 

8 SEC. 302. LIMITATION ON POSTAL CONTRIBUTIONS UNDER 

9 FEGLI AND FEHBP. 

10 Section 1003 is amended by adding at the end the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(e)(1) At least 1 month before the start of each fis13 cal year as described in paragraph (2), the Postmaster 

14 General shall transmit to the Postal Regulatory Commis15 sion certification (together with such supporting docu16 mentation as the Postal Regulatory Commission may re17 quire) that contributions of the Postal Service for such 

18 fiscal year will not exceed— 

19 ‘‘(A) in the case of life insurance under chapter 

20 87 of title 5, the Government contributions deter21 mined under section 8708 of such title; and 

22 ‘‘(B) in the case of health insurance under 

23 chapter 89 of title 5, the Government contributions 

24 determined under 8906 of such title. 

25 ‘‘(2) This subsection applies with respect to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), 

2 each fiscal year beginning after September 30, 2013; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) in the case of officers and employees of 

5 the Postal Service covered by a collective bargaining 

6 agreement which is in effect on the date of the en7 actment of this subsection— 

8 ‘‘(i) each fiscal year beginning after the ex9 piration date of such agreement, including 

10 ‘‘(ii) for the fiscal year in which such expi11 ration date occurs, any portion of such fiscal 

12 year remaining after such expiration date. 

13 ‘‘(3)(A) If, after reasonable notice and opportunity 

14 for hearing is afforded to the Postal Service, the Postal 

15 Regulatory Commission finds that the contributions of the 

16 Postal Service for a fiscal year will exceed or are exceeding 

17 the limitation specified in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

18 paragraph (1), the Commission shall order that the Postal 

19 Service take such action as the Commission considers nec20 essary to achieve full and immediate compliance with the 

21 applicable limitation or limitations. 

22 ‘‘(B) Sections 3663 and 3664 shall apply with respect 

23 to any order issued by the Postal Regulatory Commission 

24 under subparagraph (A). 


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1 ‘‘(C) Nothing in this paragraph shall be considered 

2 to permit the issuance of an order requiring reduction of 

3 contributions below the level specified by the provision of 

4 law cited in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1), 

5 as applicable.’’. 

6 SEC. 303. REPEAL OF PROVISION RELATING TO OVERALL 

7 VALUE OF FRINGE BENEFITS. 

8 The last sentence of section 1005(f) is repealed. 

9 SEC. 304. MODIFICATIONS RELATING TO COLLECTIVE BAR10 GAINING. 

11 Section 1207 is amended by striking subsections (c) 

12 and (d) and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(c)(1) If no agreement is reached within 30 days 

14 after the appointment of a mediator under subsection (b), 

15 or if the parties decide upon arbitration before the expira16 tion of the 30-day period, an arbitration board shall be 

17 established consisting of 1 member selected by the Postal 

18 Service (from the list under paragraph (2)), 1 member se19 lected by the bargaining representative of the employees 

20 (from the list under paragraph (2)), and the mediator ap21 pointed under subsection (b). 

22 ‘‘(2) Upon receiving a request from either of the par23 ties referred to in paragraph (1), the Director of the Fed24 eral Mediation and Conciliation Service shall provide a list 

25 of not less than 9 individuals who are well qualified to 


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1 serve as neutral arbitrators. Each person listed shall be 

2 an arbitrator of nationwide reputation and professional 

3 nature, a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators, 

4 and an individual whom the Director has determined to 

5 be willing and available to serve. If, within 7 days after 

6 the list is provided, either of the parties has not selected 

7 an individual from the list, the Director shall make the 

8 selection within 3 days. 

9 ‘‘(3) The arbitration board shall give the parties a 

10 full and fair hearing, including an opportunity to present 

11 evidence in support of their claims, and an opportunity 

12 to present their case in person, by counsel, or by other 

13 representative as they may elect. The hearing shall be con14 cluded no more than 40 days after the arbitration board 

15 is established. 

16 ‘‘(4) No more than 7 days after the hearing is con17 cluded, each party shall submit to the arbitration board 

18 2 offer packages, each of which packages shall specify the 

19 terms of a proposed final agreement. 

20 ‘‘(5) If no agreement is reached within 7 days after 

21 the last day date for the submission of an offer package 

22 under paragraph (4), each party shall submit to the arbi23 tration board a single final offer package specifying the 

24 terms of a proposed final agreement. 


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1 ‘‘(6) No later than 3 days after the submission of 

2 the final offer packages under paragraph (5), the arbitra3 tion board shall select 1 of those packages as its tentative 

4 award, subject to paragraph (7). 

5 ‘‘(7)(A) The arbitration board may not select a final 

6 offer package under paragraph (6) unless it satisfies each 

7 of the following: 

8 ‘‘(i) The offer complies with the requirements of 

9 sections 101(c) and 1003(a). 

10 ‘‘(ii) The offer takes into account the current fi11 nancial condition of the Postal Service. 

12 ‘‘(iii) The offer takes into account the long-term 

13 financial condition of the Postal Service. 

14 ‘‘(B)(i) If the board unanimously determines, based 

15 on clear and convincing evidence presented during the 

16 hearing under paragraph (3), that neither final offer pack17 age satisfies the conditions set forth in subparagraph (A), 

18 the board shall by majority vote— 

19 ‘‘(I) select the package that best meets such 

20 conditions; and 

21 ‘‘(II) modify the package so selected to the min22 imum extent necessary to satisfy such conditions. 

23 ‘‘(ii) If modification (as described in subparagraph 

24 (B)(i)(II)) is necessary, the board shall have an additional 


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1 7 days to render its tentative award under this subpara2 graph. 

3 ‘‘(8) The parties may negotiate a substitute award 

4 to replace the tentative award selected under paragraph 

5 (6) or rendered under paragraph (7) (as the case may be). 

6 If no agreement on a substitute award is reached within 

7 10 days after the date on which the tentative award is 

8 so selected or rendered, the tentative award shall become 

9 final. 

10 ‘‘(9) The arbitration board shall review any substitute 

11 award negotiated under paragraph (8) to determine if it 

12 satisfies the conditions set forth in paragraph (7)(A). If 

13 the arbitration board, by a unanimous vote taken within 

14 3 days after the date on which the agreement on the sub15 stitute award is reached under paragraph (8), determines 

16 that the substitute award does not satisfy such conditions, 

17 the tentative award shall become final. In the absence of 

18 a vote, as described in the preceding sentence, the sub19 stitute agreement shall become final. 

20 ‘‘(10) If, under paragraph (5), neither party submits 

21 a final offer package by the last day allowable under such 

22 paragraph, the arbitration board shall develop and issue 

23 a final award no later than 20 days after such last day. 

24 ‘‘(11) A final award or agreement under this sub25 section shall be conclusive and binding upon the parties. 


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1 ‘‘(12) Costs of the arbitration board and mediation 

2 shall be shared equally by the Postal Service and the bar3 gaining representative. 

4 ‘‘(d) In the case of a bargaining unit whose recog5 nized collective-bargaining representative does not have an 

6 agreement with the Postal Service, if the parties fail to 

7 reach agreement within 90 days after the commencement 

8 of collective bargaining, a mediator shall be appointed in 

9 accordance with the provisions of subsection (b), unless 

10 the parties have previously agreed to another procedure 

11 for a binding resolution of their differences. If the parties 

12 fail to reach agreement within 180 days after the com13 mencement of collective bargaining, an arbitration board 

14 shall be established to provide conclusive and binding arbi15 tration in accordance with the provisions of subsection 

16 (c).’’. 

17 Subtitle B—Postal Service Workers’ 

18 Compensation Reform 

19 SEC. 311. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that— 

21 (1) the Postal Service should develop and man22 age a program to pay compensation for the disability 

23 or death of an officer or employee of the Postal 

24 Service which results from an injury sustained while 

25 in the performance of duty; 


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1 (2) such program should include an automatic 

2 transition to retirement and provide a retirement 

3 pension based on the average salary of the officer or 

4 employee, determined as if such officer or employee 

5 had continued to receive basic pay from the date of 

6 injury to the date of retirement; and 

7 (3) officers or employees of the Postal Service 

8 receiving compensation for a disability from an in9 jury sustained while in the performance of duty 

10 should be transitioned to the program described in 

11 paragraph (1). 

12 TITLE IV—POSTAL SERVICE 

13 REVENUE 

14 SEC. 401. ADEQUACY, EFFICIENCY, AND FAIRNESS OF POST15 AL RATES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 3622(d) 

17 is amended— 

18 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

19 through (E) as subparagraph (D) through (G), re20 spectively; and 

21 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(B) subject to the limitation under para24 graph (A), establish postal rates to fulfill the 

25 requirement that each market-dominant class, 


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1 product, and type of mail service (except for an 

2 experimental product or service) bear the direct 

3 and indirect postal costs attributable to such 

4 class, product, or type through reliably identi5 fied causal relationships plus that portion of all 

6 other costs of the Postal Service reasonably as7 signable to such class, product, or type; 

8 ‘‘(C) establish postal rates for each loss9 making class of mail to eliminate such losses by 

10 exhausting all unused rate authority as well as 

11 maximizing incentives to reduce costs and in12 crease efficiency; with— 

13 ‘‘(i) the term ‘loss-making’, as used 

14 with respect to a class of mail, meaning a 

15 class of mail that bears less than 100 per16 cent of its costs attributable (as described 

17 in subparagraph (B)), according to the 

18 most recent annual determination of the 

19 Postal Regulatory Commission under sec20 tion 3653; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) unused rate authority annually 

22 increased by 5 percent for each class of 

23 mail that bore less than 90 percent of its 

24 costs attributable, according to the most 

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1 latory Commission under section 3653, 

2 with such increase in unused rate authority 

3 to take effect 30 days after issuance of 

4 such Commission determination;’’. 

5 (b) EXCEPTION.—Section 3622(d) is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTION.—The requirements of para8 graph (1)(B) shall not apply to a market-dominant 

9 product for which a substantial portion of the prod10 uct’s mail volume consists of inbound international 

11 mail with terminal dues rates determined by the 

12 Universal Postal Union (and not by bilateral agree13 ments or other arrangements).’’. 

14 SEC. 402. REPEAL OF RATE PREFERENCES FOR QUALIFIED 

15 POLITICAL COMMITTEES. 

16 Subsection (e) of section 3626 is repealed. 

17 SEC. 403. RATE PREFERENCES FOR NONPROFIT ADVER18 TISING. 

19 (a) PROVISIONS RELATING TO FORMER SECTION

20 4358(f).—Section 3626(a)(5) is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision 

22 of this paragraph, the percentage specified in the pre23 ceding sentence shall be increased by an additional 5 per24 centage points as of the first day of each calendar year 

25 beginning after the date of the enactment of the Postal 


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1 Reform Act of 2011, until such percentage reaches 90 per2 cent.’’. 

3 (b) PROVISIONS RELATING TO FORMER SECTION

4 4452 (b) AND (c).—Section 3626(a)(6) is amended by in5 serting after subparagraph (C) the following (as a flush 

6 left sentence): 

7 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph, 

8 the percentage specified in subparagraph (A) shall be in9 creased by an additional 5 percentage points as of the first 

10 day of each calendar year beginning after the date of the 

11 enactment of the Postal Reform Act of 2011, until such 

12 percentage reaches 90 percent.’’. 

13 SEC. 404. STREAMLINED REVIEW OF QUALIFYING SERVICE 

14 AGREEMENTS FOR COMPETITIVE PRODUCTS. 

15 Section 3633 is amended by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(c) STREAMLINED REVIEW.—Within 90 days after 

18 the date of the enactment of this subsection, after notice 

19 and opportunity for public comment, the Postal Regu20 latory Commission shall promulgate (and may from time 

21 to time thereafter revise) regulations for streamlined 

22 after-the-fact review of new agreements between the Post23 al Service and users of the mail that provide rates not 

24 of general applicability for competitive products, and are 

25 functionally equivalent to existing agreements that have 


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1 collectively covered attributable costs and collectively im2 proved the net financial position of the Postal Service. 

3 Streamlined review will be concluded within 5 working 

4 days after the agreement is filed with the Commission and 

5 shall be limited to approval or disapproval of the agree6 ment as a whole based on the Commission’s determination 

7 of its functional equivalence. Agreements not approved 

8 may be resubmitted without prejudice under section 

9 3632(b)(3).’’. 

10 SEC. 405. SUBMISSION OF SERVICE AGREEMENTS FOR 

11 STREAMLINED REVIEW. 

12 Section 3632(b) is amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para14 graph (5); and 

15 (2) by inserting paragraph (3) the following: 

16 ‘‘(4) RATES FOR STREAMLINED REVIEW.—In 

17 the case of rates not of general applicability for com18 petitive products that the Postmaster General con19 siders eligible for streamlined review under section 

20 3633(c), the Postmaster General shall cause each 

21 agreement to be filed with the Postal Regulatory 

22 Commission by such date, on or before the effective 

23 date of any new rate, as the Postmaster General 

24 considered appropriate.’’. 


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1 SEC. 406. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR 

2 SERVICE AGREEMENTS. 

3 Section 3632(b), as amended by section 405, is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(6)(A) Each annual written determination of 

6 the Commission under section 3653 shall include 

7 written determinations, for each group of function8 ally equivalent agreements between the Postal Serv9 ice and users of the mail, whether it— 

10 ‘‘(i) covered attributable costs; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) improved the net financial position of 

12 the Postal Service. 

13 ‘‘(B) Any group of functionally equivalent 

14 agreements (as referred to in subparagraph (A)) not 

15 meeting clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) 

16 shall be determined to be in noncompliance under 

17 section 3653(c). 

18 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, a group 

19 of functionally equivalent agreements (as referred to 

20 in subparagraph (A)) shall consist of all service 

21 agreements that are functionally equivalent to each 

22 other within the same market-dominant or competi23 tive product, but shall not include agreements within 

24 an experimental product.’’. 

25 SEC. 407. NONPOSTAL SERVICES. 

26 (a) NONPOSTAL SERVICES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part IV is amended by add2 ing after chapter 36 the following: 

3 ‘‘CHAPTER 37—NONPOSTAL SERVICES 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘3701. Purpose. 

‘‘3702. Definitions. 

‘‘3703. Postal Service advertising program. 

‘‘3704. Postal Service program for State governments. 

‘‘3705. Postal Service program for other government agencies. 

‘‘3706. Transparency and accountability for nonpostal services. 

4 ‘‘§ 3701. Purpose 

5 ‘‘This chapter is intended to enable the Postal Service 

6 to increase its net revenues through specific nonpostal 

7 products and services that are expressly authorized by this 

8 chapter. Postal Service revenues and expenses under this 

9 chapter shall be funded through the Postal Service Fund. 

10 ‘‘§ 3702. Definitions 

11 ‘‘As used in this chapter— 

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘nonpostal services’ is limited to 

13 services offered by the Postal Service that are ex14 pressly authorized by this chapter and are not postal 

15 products or services; 

16 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Postal Service advertising pro17 gram’ means a program, managed by the Postal 

18 Service, by which the Postal Service receives reve19 nues from entities which advertise at Postal Service 

20 facilities and on Postal Service vehicles; 

21 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Postal Service program for State 

22 government services’ means a program, managed by 


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1 the Postal Service, by which the Postal Service re2 ceives revenue from State governments (including 

3 their agencies) which provide services at Postal Serv4 ice facilities; 

5 ‘‘(4) the term ‘attributable costs’ has the same 

6 meaning as is given such term in section 3631; and 

7 ‘‘(5) the term ‘year’ means a fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘§ 3703. Postal Service advertising program 

9 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, 

10 the Postal Service may establish and manage a program 

11 that allows entities to advertise at Postal Service facilities 

12 and on Postal Service vehicles. Such a program shall be 

13 subject to the following requirements: 

14 ‘‘(1) The Postal Service shall at all times en15 sure advertising it permits is consistent with the in16 tegrity of the Postal Service. 

17 ‘‘(2) Any advertising program is required to 

18 cover a minimum of 200 percent of its attributable 

19 costs in each year. 

20 ‘‘(3) All advertising expenditures and revenues 

21 are subject to annual compliance determination (in22 cluding remedies for noncompliance) applicable to 

23 nonpostal products. 


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1 ‘‘(4) Total advertising expenditures and reve2 nues must be disclosed in Postal Service Annual Re3 ports. 

4 ‘‘§ 3704. Postal Service program for State govern5 ments 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro7 vision of this title, the Postal Service may establish a pro8 gram to provide services for agencies of State governments 

9 within the United States, but only if such services— 

10 ‘‘(1) shall provide enhanced value to the public, 

11 such as by lowering the cost or raising the quality 

12 of such services or by making such services more ac13 cessible; 

14 ‘‘(2) do not interfere with or detract from the 

15 value of postal services, including— 

16 ‘‘(A) the cost and efficiency of postal serv17 ices; and 

18 ‘‘(B) access to postal retail service, such as 

19 customer waiting time and access to parking; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(3) provide a reasonable contribution to the in22 stitutional costs of the Postal Service, defined as re23 imbursement for each service and to each agency 

24 covering at least 150 percent of the attributable 

25 costs of such service in each year. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC NOTICE.—At least 90 days before offer2 ing any services under this section, the Postal Service shall 

3 make each agreement with State agencies readily available 

4 to the public on its Web site, including a business plan 

5 that describes the specific services to be provided, the en6 hanced value to the public, terms of reimbursement, the 

7 estimated annual reimbursement to the Postal Service, 

8 and the estimated percentage of attributable Postal Serv9 ices that will be covered by reimbursement (with docu10 mentation to support these estimates). The Postal Service 

11 shall solicit public comment for at least 30 days, with com12 ments posted on its Web site, followed by its written re13 sponse posted on its Web site at least 30 days before offer14 ing such services. 

15 ‘‘(c) APPROVAL REQUIRED.—The Governors of the 

16 Postal Service shall approve the provision of services 

17 under this section by a recorded vote, with at least 6 mem18 bers voting for approval, with the vote publicly disclosed 

19 on the Postal Service Web site. 

20 ‘‘(d) CLASSIFICATION OF SERVICES.—All services for 

21 a given agency provided under this section shall be classi22 fied as a separate activity subject to the requirements of 

23 annual reporting under section 3706. Such reporting shall 

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1 quirements of subsection (a). Information provided under 

2 this section shall be according to requirements that the 

3 Postal Regulatory Commission shall by regulation pre4 scribe. 

5 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this sec6 tion— 

7 ‘‘(1) the term ‘State’ includes the District of 

8 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

9 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 

10 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

11 Islands, and any other territory or possession of the 

12 United States; and 

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘United States’, when used in a 

14 geographical sense, means the States. 

15 ‘‘§ 3705. Postal Service program for other government 

16 agencies 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Service may establish 

18 a program to provide property and services for other gov19 ernment agencies within the meaning of section 411, but 

20 only if such program provides a reasonable contribution 

21 to the institutional costs of the Postal Service, defined as 

22 reimbursement by each agency that covers at least 100 

23 percent of the attributable costs of all property and service 

24 provided by the Postal Service in a each year to such agen25 cy. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CLASSIFICATION OF SERVICES.—For each agen2 cy, all property and services provided by the Postal Service 

3 under this section shall be classified as a separate activity 

4 subject to the requirements of annual reporting under sec5 tion 3706. Information provided under this section shall 

6 be according to requirements that the Postal Regulatory 

7 Commission shall by regulation prescribe. 

8 ‘‘§ 3706. Transparency and accountability for non9 postal services 

10 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE COMMISSION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Service shall, 

12 no later than 90 days after the end of each year, 

13 prepare and submit to the Postal Regulatory Com14 mission a report (together with such nonpublic 

15 annex to the report as the Commission may require 

16 under subsection (b)) which shall analyze costs, reve17 nues, rates, and quality of service for section 3704, 

18 using such methodologies as the Commission shall 

19 by regulation prescribe, and in sufficient detail to 

20 demonstrate compliance with all applicable require21 ments of this chapter. 

22 ‘‘(2) AUDITS.—The Inspector General shall reg23 ularly audit the data collection systems and proce24 dures utilized in collecting information and pre25 paring such report. The results of any such audit 


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1 shall be submitted to the Postal Service and the 

2 Postal Regulatory Commission. 

3 ‘‘(b) SUPPORTING MATTER.—The Postal Regulatory 

4 Commission shall have access, in accordance with such 

5 regulations as the Commission shall prescribe, to the 

6 working papers and any other supporting matter of the 

7 Postal Service and the Inspector General in connection 

8 with any information submitted under this section. 

9 ‘‘(c) CONTENT AND FORM OF REPORTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Regulatory 

11 Commission shall, by regulation, prescribe the con12 tent and form of the public reports (and any non13 public annex and supporting matter relating to the 

14 report) to be provided by the Postal Service under 

15 this section. Such reports shall be included with the 

16 annual compliance determination reported under sec17 tion 3653. In carrying out this subsection, the Com18 mission shall give due consideration to— 

19 ‘‘(A) providing the public with timely, ade20 quate information to assess compliance; 

21 ‘‘(B) avoiding unnecessary or unwarranted 

22 administrative effort and expense on the part of 

23 the Postal Service; and 

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1 empt from public disclosure under section 

2 552(b) of title 5. 

3 ‘‘(2) REVISED REQUIREMENTS.—The Commis4 sion may, on its own motion or on request of an in5 terested party, initiate proceedings (to be conducted 

6 in accordance with regulations that the Commission 

7 shall prescribe) to improve the quality, accuracy, or 

8 completeness of Postal Service data required by the 

9 Commission under this subsection whenever it shall 

10 appear that— 

11 ‘‘(A) the attribution of costs or revenues to 

12 property or services under this chapter has be13 come significantly inaccurate or can be signifi14 cantly improved; 

15 ‘‘(B) the quality of service data provided to 

16 the Commission for annual reports under this 

17 chapter has become significantly inaccurate or 

18 can be significantly improved; or 

19 ‘‘(C) such revisions are, in the judgment of 

20 the Commission, otherwise necessitated by the 

21 public interest. 

22 ‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Postal Service deter24 mines that any document or portion of a document, 

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1 ulatory Commission in a nonpublic annex under this 

2 section contains information which is described in 

3 section 410(c) of this title, or exempt from public 

4 disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, the Postal 

5 Service shall, at the time of providing such matter 

6 to the Commission, notify the Commission of its de7 termination, in writing, and describe with particu8 larity the documents (or portions of documents) or 

9 other matter for which confidentiality is sought and 

10 the reasons therefor. 

11 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT.—Any information or other 

12 matter described in paragraph (1) to which the 

13 Commission gains access under this section shall be 

14 subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 504(g) 

15 in the same way as if the Commission had received 

16 notification with respect to such matter under sec17 tion 504(g)(1). 

18 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL COMPLIANCE DETERMINATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.— 

20 After receiving the reports required under subsection 

21 (a) for any year, the Postal Regulatory Commission 

22 shall promptly provide an opportunity for comment 

23 on such reports by any interested party, and an offi24 cer of the Commission who shall be required to rep25 resent the interests of the general public. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE OR NON2 COMPLIANCE.—Not later than 90 days after receiv3 ing the submissions required under subsection (a) 

4 with respect to a year, the Postal Regulatory Com5 mission shall make a written determination as to 

6 whether any nonpostal activities during such year 

7 were or were not in compliance with applicable pro8 visions of this chapter (or regulations promulgated 

9 under this chapter). The Postal Regulatory Commis10 sion shall issue a determination of noncompliance if 

11 the requirements for coverage of attributable costs 

12 are not met. If, with respect to a year, no instance 

13 of noncompliance is found to have occurred in such 

14 year, the written determination shall be to that ef15 fect. 

16 ‘‘(3) NONCOMPLIANCE.—If, for a year, a timely 

17 written determination of noncompliance is made 

18 under this chapter, the Postal Regulatory Commis19 sion shall take appropriate action. If the require20 ments for coverage of attributable costs specified by 

21 this chapter are not met, the Commission shall, 

22 within 60 days after the determination, prescribe re23 medial action to restore compliance as soon as prac24 ticable, which shall also include the full restoration 

25 of revenue shortfalls during the following fiscal year. 


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1 The Commission may order the Postal Service to 

2 discontinue a nonpostal service under section 3703 

3 or 3704 that persistently fails to meet cost coverage 

4 requirements. 

5 ‘‘(4) ANY DELIBERATE NONCOMPLIANCE.—In 

6 addition, in cases of deliberate noncompliance by the 

7 Postal Service with the requirements of this chapter, 

8 the Postal Regulatory Commission may order, based 

9 on the nature, circumstances, extent, and serious10 ness of the noncompliance, a fine (in the amount 

11 specified by the Commission in its order) for each 

12 incidence of noncompliance. All receipts from fines 

13 imposed under this subsection shall be deposited in 

14 the general fund of the Treasury of the United 

15 States.’’. 

16 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

17 part IV is amended by adding after the item relating 

18 to chapter 36 the following: 

‘‘37. Nonpostal services ................................................................... 3701’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

20 (1) SECTION 404(e).—Section 404(e) is amend21 ed by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(6) Nothing in this section shall be considered to 

23 prevent the Postal Service from establishing nonpostal 

24 products and services that are expressly authorized by 

25 chapter 37.’’. 


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1 (2) SECTION 411.—The last sentence of section 

2 411 is amended by striking ‘‘including 

3 reimbursability’’ and inserting ‘‘including 

4 reimbursability within the limitations of chapter 

5 37’’. 

6 TITLE V—POSTAL CONTRACTING 

7 REFORM 

8 SEC. 501. CONTRACTING PROVISIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of title 39, United States 

10 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘CHAPTER 7—CONTRACTING PROVISIONS 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘701. Definitions. 

‘‘702. Advocate for competition. 

‘‘703. Delegation of contracting authority. 

‘‘704. Posting of noncompetitive purchase requests for noncompetitive contracts. 

‘‘705. Review of ethical issues. 

‘‘706. Ethical restrictions on participation in certain contracting activity. 

12 ‘‘§ 701. Definitions 

13 ‘‘In this chapter— 

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘contracting officer’ means an 

15 employee of a covered postal entity who has author16 ity to enter into a postal contract; 

17 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered postal entity’ means— 

18 ‘‘(A) the United States Postal Service; or 

19 ‘‘(B) the Postal Regulatory Commission; 

20 ‘‘(3) the term ‘head of a covered postal entity’ 

21 means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in the case of the United States Post2 al Service, the Postmaster General; or 

3 ‘‘(B) in the case of the Postal Regulatory 

4 Commission, the Chairman of the Postal Regu5 latory Commission; 

6 ‘‘(4) the term ‘postal contract’ means any con7 tract (including any agreement or memorandum of 

8 understanding) entered into by a covered postal enti9 ty for the procurement of goods or services; and 

10 ‘‘(5) the term ‘senior procurement executive’ 

11 means the senior procurement executive of a covered 

12 postal entity. 

13 ‘‘§ 702. Advocate for competition 

14 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND DESIGNATION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) There is established in each covered postal 

16 entity an advocate for competition. 

17 ‘‘(2) The head of each covered postal entity 

18 shall designate for the covered postal entity 1 or 

19 more officers or employees (other than the senior 

20 procurement executive) to serve as the advocate for 

21 competition. 

22 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The advocate for competi23 tion of each covered postal entity shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) be responsible for promoting— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the contracting out of Postal Service 

2 functions that the private sector can perform 

3 equally well or better, and at lower cost; and 

4 ‘‘(B) competition to the maximum extent 

5 practicable consistent with obtaining best value 

6 by promoting the acquisition of commercial 

7 items and challenging barriers to competition; 

8 ‘‘(2) review the procurement activities of the 

9 covered postal entity; and 

10 ‘‘(3) prepare and transmit to the head of each 

11 covered postal entity, the senior procurement execu12 tive of each covered postal entity, the Board of Gov13 ernors of the United States Postal Service, and Con14 gress, an annual report describing— 

15 ‘‘(A) the activities of the advocate under 

16 this section; 

17 ‘‘(B) initiatives required to promote con18 tracting out and competition; 

19 ‘‘(C) barriers to contracting out and com20 petition; and 

21 ‘‘(D) the number of waivers made by each 

22 covered postal entity under section 704(c). 

23 ‘‘§ 703. Delegation of contracting authority 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) POLICY.—Not later than 60 days after the 

2 date of enactment of this chapter, the head of each 

3 covered postal entity shall issue a policy on con4 tracting officer delegations of authority for the cov5 ered postal entity. 

6 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The policy issued under 

7 paragraph (1) shall require that— 

8 ‘‘(A) notwithstanding any delegation of au9 thority with respect to postal contracts, the ulti10 mate responsibility and accountability for the 

11 award and administration of postal contracts 

12 resides with the senior procurement executive; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(B) a contracting officer shall maintain 

15 an awareness of and engagement in the activi16 ties being performed on postal contracts of 

17 which that officer has cognizance, notwith18 standing any delegation of authority that may 

19 have been executed. 

20 ‘‘(b) POSTING OF DELEGATIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each covered 

22 postal entity shall make any delegation of authority 

23 for postal contracts outside the functional con24 tracting unit readily available and accessible on the 

25 Web site of the covered postal entity. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This paragraph shall 

2 apply to any delegation of authority made on or 

3 after 30 days after the date of enactment of this 

4 chapter. 

5 ‘‘§ 704. Posting of noncompetitive purchase requests 

6 for noncompetitive contracts 

7 ‘‘(a) POSTING REQUIRED.— 

8 ‘‘(1) POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION.—The 

9 Postal Regulatory Commission shall make the non10 competitive purchase request for any noncompetitive 

11 award, including the rationale supporting the non12 competitive award, publicly available on the Web site 

13 of the Postal Regulatory Commission— 

14 ‘‘(A) not later than 14 days after the date 

15 of the award of the noncompetitive contract; or 

16 ‘‘(B) not later than 30 days after the date 

17 of the award of the noncompetitive contract, if 

18 the basis for the award was a compelling busi19 ness interest. 

20 ‘‘(2) UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE.—The 

21 United States Postal Service shall make the non22 competitive purchase request for any noncompetitive 

23 award of a postal contract valued at $250,000 or 

24 more, including the rationale supporting the nonVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:11 Jun 30, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00122 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2309.IH H2309

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1 competitive award, publicly available on the Web site 

2 of the United States Postal Service— 

3 ‘‘(A) not later than 14 days after the date 

4 of the award; or 

5 ‘‘(B) not later than 30 days after the date 

6 of the award, if the basis for the award was a 

7 compelling business interest. 

8 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENTS TO THE POSTING THRESH9 OLD FOR THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE.— 

10 ‘‘(A) REVIEW AND DETERMINATION.—Not 

11 later than January 31 of each year, the United 

12 States Postal Service shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) review the $250,000 threshold es14 tablished under paragraph (2); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) based on any change in the Con16 sumer Price Index for all-urban consumers 

17 of the Department of Labor, determine 

18 whether an adjustment to the threshold 

19 shall be made. 

20 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF ADJUSTMENTS.—An ad21 justment under subparagraph (A) shall be made 

22 in increments of $5,000. If the United States 

23 Postal Service determines that a change in the 

24 Consumer Price Index for a year would require 

25 an adjustment in an amount that is less than 


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1 $5,000, the United States Postal Service may 

2 not make an adjustment to the threshold for 

3 the year. 

4 ‘‘(4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

5 apply to any noncompetitive contract awarded on or 

6 after the date that is 90 days after the date of en7 actment of this chapter. 

8 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

10 the information required to be made publicly avail11 able by a covered postal entity under subsection (a) 

12 shall be readily accessible on the Web site of the cov13 ered postal entity. 

14 ‘‘(2) PROTECTION OF PROPRIETARY INFORMA15 TION.—A covered postal entity shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) carefully screen any description of the 

17 rationale supporting a noncompetitive award re18 quired to be made publicly available under sub19 section (a) to determine whether the description 

20 includes proprietary data (including any ref21 erence or citation to the proprietary data) or se22 curity-related information; and 

23 ‘‘(B) remove any proprietary data or secu24 rity-related information before making publicly 


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1 available a description of the rationale sup2 porting a noncompetitive award. 

3 ‘‘(c) WAIVERS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) WAIVER PERMITTED.—If a covered postal 

5 entity determines that making a noncompetitive pur6 chase request publicly available would risk placing 

7 the United States Postal Service at a competitive 

8 disadvantage relative to a private sector competitor, 

9 the senior procurement executive, in consultation 

10 with the advocate for competition of the covered 

11 postal entity, may waive the requirements under 

12 subsection (a). 

13 ‘‘(2) FORM AND CONTENT OF WAIVER.— 

14 ‘‘(A) FORM.—A waiver under paragraph 

15 (1) shall be in the form of a written determina16 tion placed in the file of the contract to which 

17 the noncompetitive purchase agreement relates. 

18 ‘‘(B) CONTENT.—A waiver under para19 graph (1) shall include— 

20 ‘‘(i) a description of the risk associ21 ated with making the noncompetitive pur22 chase request publicly available; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) a statement that redaction of 

24 sensitive information in the noncompetitive 

25 purchase request would not be sufficient to 


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1 protect the United States Postal Service 

2 from being placed at a competitive dis3 advantage relative to a private sector com4 petitor. 

5 ‘‘(3) DELEGATION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—A 

6 covered postal entity may not delegate the authority 

7 to approve a waiver under paragraph (1) to any em8 ployee having less authority than the senior procure9 ment executive. 

10 ‘‘§ 705. Review of ethical issues 

11 ‘‘If a contracting officer identifies any ethical issues 

12 relating to a proposed contract and submits those issues 

13 and that proposed contract to the designated ethics official 

14 for the covered postal entity before the awarding of that 

15 contract, that ethics official shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) review the proposed contract; and 

17 ‘‘(2) advise the contracting officer on the appro18 priate resolution of ethical issues. 

19 ‘‘§ 706. Ethical restrictions on participation in certain 

20 contracting activity 

21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

22 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered employee’ means— 

23 ‘‘(A) a contracting officer; or 

24 ‘‘(B) any employee of a covered postal en25 tity whose decisionmaking affects a postal conVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:11 Jun 30, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00126 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2309.IH H2309

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1 tract as determined by regulations prescribed 

2 by the head of a covered postal entity; 

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘final conviction’ means a convic4 tion, whether entered on a verdict or plea, including 

5 a plea of nolo contendere, for which a sentence has 

6 been imposed; and 

7 ‘‘(3) the term ‘covered relationship’ means a 

8 covered relationship described in section 

9 2635.502(b)(1) of title 5, Code of Federal Regula10 tions, or any successor thereto. 

11 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.— 

12 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—The head of each covered 

13 postal entity shall prescribe regulations that— 

14 ‘‘(A) require a covered employee to include 

15 in the file of any noncompetitive purchase re16 quest for a noncompetitive postal contract a 

17 written certification that— 

18 ‘‘(i) discloses any covered relationship 

19 of the covered employee; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) states that the covered employee 

21 will not take any action with respect to the 

22 noncompetitive purchase request that af23 fects the financial interests of a friend, rel24 ative, or person with whom the covered 

25 employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental 


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1 capacity, or otherwise gives rise to an ap2 pearance of the use of public office for pri3 vate gain, as described in section 2635.702 

4 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

5 any successor thereto; 

6 ‘‘(B) require a contracting officer to con7 sult with the ethics counsel for the covered 

8 postal entity regarding any disclosure made by 

9 a covered employee under subparagraph (A)(i), 

10 to determine whether participation by the cov11 ered employee in the noncompetitive purchase 

12 request would give rise to a violation of part 

13 2635 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations 

14 (commonly referred to as the Standards of Eth15 ical Conduct for Employees of the Executive 

16 Branch); 

17 ‘‘(C) require the ethics counsel for a cov18 ered postal entity to review any disclosure made 

19 by a contracting officer under subparagraph 

20 (A)(i) to determine whether participation by the 

21 contracting officer in the noncompetitive pur22 chase request would give rise to a violation of 

23 part 2635 of title 5, Code of Federal Regula24 tions (commonly referred to as the Standards of 


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1 Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive 

2 Branch), or any successor thereto; 

3 ‘‘(D) under subsections (d) and (e) of sec4 tion 2635.50 of title 5, Code of Federal Regula5 tions, or any successor thereto, require the eth6 ics counsel for a covered postal entity to— 

7 ‘‘(i) authorize a covered employee that 

8 makes a disclosure under subparagraph 

9 (A)(i) to participate in the noncompetitive 

10 postal contract; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) disqualify a covered employee 

12 that makes a disclosure under subpara13 graph (A)(i) from participating in the non14 competitive postal contract; 

15 ‘‘(E) require a contractor to timely disclose 

16 to the contracting officer in a bid, solicitation, 

17 award, or performance of a postal contract any 

18 conflict of interest with a covered employee; and 

19 ‘‘(F) include authority for the head of the 

20 covered postal entity to grant a waiver or other21 wise mitigate any organizational or personal 

22 conflict of interest, if the head of the covered 

23 postal entity determines that the waiver or miti24 gation is in the best interests of the Postal 

25 Service. 


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1 ‘‘(2) POSTING OF WAIVERS.—Not later than 30 

2 days after the head of a covered postal entity grants 

3 a waiver described in paragraph (1)(F), the head of 

4 the covered postal entity shall make the waiver pub5 licly available on the Web site of the covered postal 

6 entity. 

7 ‘‘(c) CONTRACT VOIDANCE AND RECOVERY.— 

8 ‘‘(1) UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.—In any case in 

9 which there is a final conviction for a violation of 

10 any provision of chapter 11 of title 18 relating to a 

11 postal contract, the head of a covered postal entity 

12 may— 

13 ‘‘(A) void that contract; and 

14 ‘‘(B) recover the amounts expended and 

15 property transferred by the covered postal enti16 ty under that contract. 

17 ‘‘(2) OBTAINING OR DISCLOSING PROCUREMENT

18 INFORMATION.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which 

20 a contractor under a postal contract fails to 

21 timely disclose a conflict of interest to the ap22 propriate contracting officer as required under 

23 the regulations promulgated under subsection 

24 (b)(1)(E), the head of a covered postal entity 

25 may— 


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1 ‘‘(i) void that contract; and 

2 ‘‘(ii) recover the amounts expended 

3 and property transferred by the covered 

4 postal entity under that contract. 

5 ‘‘(B) CONVICTION OR ADMINISTRATIVE DE6 TERMINATION.—A case described under sub7 paragraph (A) is any case in which— 

8 ‘‘(i) there is a final conviction for an 

9 offense punishable under section 2105 of 

10 title 41, United States Code; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) the head of a covered postal enti12 ty determines, based upon a preponderance 

13 of the evidence, that the contractor or 

14 someone acting for the contractor has en15 gaged in conduct constituting an offense 

16 punishable under section 2105 of such 

17 title.’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

19 for part I of title 39, United States Code, is amended by 

20 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘7. Contracting Provisions ............................................................. 701’’. 

21 SEC. 502. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION. 

22 Section 7101(8) of title 41, United States Code, is 

23 amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara25 graph (C); 


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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub2 paragraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(E) the United States Postal Service and 

6 the Postal Regulatory Commission.’’. 

Æ 


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