FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 1999
Release No. 43

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – In a week when U.S. Postal Service management reiterated its support for postal reform , four former Postmasters General challenged mailing industry leaders to remain actively involved in the debate about the future of the agency as it heads into the 21^st Century.

Joining Postmaster General William J. Hende rson, who led the discussion, were: Postmasters General Marvin T. Runyon (1992-1998); Albert V. Casey (1986); Paul N. Carlin (1985) and Benjamin F. Bailar (1975-78). The panel discussion occurred before 2,000 attendees at the mailing industry’s premier t rade show, National Postal Forum.

In summarizing his opinion on the Postal Service’s future, Carlin made a direct appeal to the audience, "You (referring to Henderson) have stepped forward and laid out a challenge: ‘There’s so mething happening out there, let’s do something about it.’" Carlin went on to say he was disappointed to hear the "deafening silence" in response to Henderson’s challenge.

"The time has come," he continued, "for all of the customers and all of the members of the management team to join in the debate to solve the problem."

The panelists addressed a variety of topics in the first-ever public discussion of the future of the Pos tal Service by four of its former chief executive officers.

Their dialogue ranged from the historic forces that brought about the Postal Reorganization Act in 1970 to the current global marketplace that is requiring the Postal Servi ce to face the realities of increased competition, re-regulation and advancements in technology.

On the postal monopoly:

n="justify">All of the former postmasters general agreed that the monopoly, as Runyon said, "is just going to disappear and it’s happening sooner than I thought it would." As Casey said, "I don’t think we have any choice. I think it’s alr eady occurring." All believe that the question is not "if, but when."

While they agreed about the inevitable "whirlwind of change" occurring globally, they all strongly reiterated the value of universal se rvice for America. As Carlin said, "I think that if the change – the end of the monopoly – were made, the Postal Service should make an unequivocal commitment that it would retain universal service by providing delivery to every home and business thr oughout the United States."

On competition:

All of the postmasters general believe that the freedom to compete is a challenge that the Postal Service is more than ready to tackle. "The Post al Service will benefit immensely from competition," said Bailar. "The question," Carlin said, "is whether or not the Postal Service can survive without the freedom to compete." Runyon countered, "We can stand up to competi tion. We can face competition, and we can beat competition."

On how to accomplish change:

All of the postmasters general agreed, "It will be very difficult to accomplish the needed change.& quot; As Bailar commented, "I would say to Congress you can’t possibly anticipate all the things that are going to hatch in the next 10 or 20 years. So you have to be flexible. If they are going to consider changes in the Postal Reorganization Act, flexibility better be the order of the day because you are going to have to cope with things you can’t anticipate." Casey commented: "You must have the popular support of the public." Runyon added: "Some of our customers like it the way it is, some of our customers would like to see changes made that we wouldn’t care for at all. Somehow we’ve got to get it all together and move forward."