Date: 2006-12-08
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 6407. the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. This is the first major overhaul of the Postal Service since 1970. The House passed its version of postal reform in July of 2005 by a vote of 41020. The Senate passed its version in February by unanimous consent. This bill is the product of months of negotiations between the House and the Senate and the administration. It is also the culmination of more than. a decade of hard work and study. not to mention a great deal of bipartisan negotiation and cooperation. Mr. Speaker. this bill is the product of months of negotiations between the House. the Senate and the administration. It is also the culmination of more than a decade of hard work and study. not to mention a great deal of bipartisan negotiation and cooperation. The landmark legislation solves the structural. legal and financial constraints that have brought the postal service to the brink of utter breakdown. The postal service is the center of a $900 billion industry. employing 9 million workers nationwide. Each year. the U.S.P.S. processes and delivers over 200 million pieces of mail to more than 130 million households and businesses in the United States. but the last major overhaul of the statutes governing the postal service occurred in 1970 before the Internet and emails and faxes. before letters became snail mail. before the deregulation of the airline industry. before competitors like FedEx even existed. Today. this critical component of our Nations economy is being challenged by a variety of factors. including increasing volume. insufficient revenue. mounting debts and new technologies such as the Internet advertising. electronic bill payments. emails and faxes. As a result. the GAO has included the postal service on its highrisk series since 2001. This compromise will reverse the death spiral at the postal service and bring the postal service into the 21st century. I want to take this opporttinity to thank Congressman JOHN McHUGH of New York who recognized the need for comprellensive postal reform legislation when he became chairman of this subcommittee at the beginning of the 104th Congress and has championed reform tirelessly. I also Want to thank HENRY WAXMAN and DANNY DAVIS for their dedication to this subject and their willingness to cooperate in a bipartisan manner. I want to thank the principal sponsors in the Senate. SUSAN COLLINS of Maine and .TOM CARPER of Delaware. Without their leadership and dedication. this compromise would not have been possible. Finally. I want to thank the many members of our staff who have worked on this important issue: Jack Callender. Ellen Brown. and Mason Alinger of my committee staff. also Robert Taub of Congressman McHUGHS staff who has dedicated years of his life to this cause. and also Phil Barnett. Denise Wilson. and Naomi Seiler of Congressman WAXMANS staff. Jill HunterWilliams of Congressman DANNY DAVIS staff. and Ann Fisher of Senator COLLINS and John Kilvington of Senator CARPERS staff. I also want to thank all those individuals in the administration that have actively and tirelessly participated in the negotiations to help us reach this point today. especially Michael Bopp. Jeff Sharpe and Chris Frech. Mr. Speaker. all the stakeholders in this legislation. postal employees. financial services companies. major marketers. have been rigorous in urging Congress and the administration to complete this bill. No one thinks it is perfect. This is the nature of compromise. but everyone. especially all Americans who use stamps. will be significantly better off with this legislation than they would be without this long overdue package of reforms. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.