Copyright 1999 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
FEBRUARY 11, 1999, THURSDAY
SECTION: IN THE NEWS
LENGTH:
1630 words
HEADLINE: PREPARED TESTIMONY OF
TED
CARRICO
NATIONAL PRESIDENT
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF POSTMASTERS
OF
THE UNITED STATES
BEFORE THE HOUSE GOVERNMENT
REFORM COMMITTEE
HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE
POSTAL SERVICE
BODY:
Mr.
Chairman, members of the Subcommittee, I am Ted Carrico, postmaster of Palisade,
Colorado. I also have the honor of serving as national president of the National
Association of Postmasters of the United States. NAPUS represents 45,000 active
and retired postmasters who are ultimately responsible for the quality of mail
service provided to cities, large and small, as well as areas for which there is
no definable municipality.
Mr. Chairman, Palisade is a rural community
located in western Colorado. It is a community much like the hamlet in upstate
New York you call home. The residents and businesses in both places rely on the
Postal Service to provide a point of access to the rest of the country and to
the entire world. Many inner-city neighborhoods also have come to depend on the
Postal Service as their conduit to the country. Only the Postal Service can
offer nondiscriminatory access to the communications and parcel delivery
marketplace. This is the type of uniform service Americans have come to expect
from the most efficient communications enterprise in the entire world.
As
many postal critics pay homage to the deregulation and commercialization frenzy
of foreign posts, we must pay attention to this country's recent experiences
with deregulation. We know, for example, this Subcommittee is keenly sensitive
to the type of market changes that devastated many communities as the result of
airline deregulation. Air service to these areas were either eliminated or
became prohibitively expensive due to efforts to reform the airline industry. We
cannot permit communications and parcel blackouts to rural communities or
inner-city neighborhoods -- locales where mail volume does not necessarily
justify full service postal operations.
A few interests have concluded that
the Postal Service should confine its operations to the distribution of
single-piece hard-copy letter mail. I am here to say that this type of
restriction would lead to the demise of universal, uniform postal services.
Innovation and the revenue that such innovations yield are what safeguard
universal services.
For too long, our detractors have alleged that the
Postal Service is a lumbering dinosaur whose time for extinction has long
passed. If this were the case, then they would not be so threatened by the
strides that the Postal service has taken to make more postal products available
to so many people at a reasonable price.
Innovation had, in fact, enhanced
your constituents' satisfaction with the Postal Service. The American public has
lauded the U.S. Postal Service with record approval ratings and our on-time
delivery scores are at an all-time high. A recent AP Poll found 75 percent of
Americans believe the Postal Service is doing an "excellent" or "good" job. Last
spring's Pew Research Center survey concluded that the Postal Service enjoys a
90 percent approval rating. And the most recent Price Waterhouse survey
concluded 93 percent of overnight First Class mail is being delivered on time.
The American public demands a strong Postal Service that will continue to
provide an essential and valued public service. Postmasters know your goal is to
strengthen the agency so it cansupport uniform service to every community in the
nation. Thus, we must enable the Postal Service to expand its revenue to support
the infrastructure making universal service possible. Let me assure you that
Postmasters, side- by-side with the entire Postal Management Team and loyal,
hardworking craft employees, will work to guarantee that the Postal Service will
continue to offer revolutionary services and products to the American public.
Postal detractors would like nothing more than to pick off popular postal
products and services to expand their own market share. Or, more likely, they
would force the Postal Service out of competitive ventures. In this way, they
could have the unfettered ability to raise their own prices without the market
interference of affordable U.S. Postal Service products and services. These
interests who champion the free market seek to exclude an efficient public
service enterprise from any type of activity that can compete effectively
against the for-profit sector. This is wrongheaded, and would condemn millions
of Americans and businesses throughout the country to overpriced, discriminatory
communication and parcel services.
As this Subcommittee has recognized from
the very beginning, the Postal Service is accountable to each and every citizen
and business in this nation. The for-profit entrants in the postal market are
accountable to only a handful of boards of directors and shareholders. While the
Postal Service uses its revenue to improve mail services and hold down postage
rates for all Americans, the for-profit participants use their profit to pay
dividends to the board and the stock owners. Only the Postal Service has a
sacred obligation to provide universal service to urban, suburban, and rural
America. We deliver every day, to everyone, everywhere. Postmasters appreciate
the Subcommittee's recognition of this unassailable fact.
Mr. Chairman, as
you know, NAPUS has collaborated with you as you constructed, and then
reconstructed the Postal Modernization Act. Probably more than any of the other
participants in this exercise, Postmasters understand the need for the Postal
Service to modernize. Postmasters oversee all facets of postal operations,
including delivery, processing, and retail services. We know innovation is what
will allow the Postal Service to continue to be a dynamic participant in the
communications and parcel delivery area as we cross into the new millennium. HR.
22 provides the framework, and much of the flesh and bones to achieve that goal.
We understand the underlying tenet of H.R. 22 is to make it possible for the
Postal Service to continue its core mission of providing universal service. The
bill also recognizes the necessity of enabling the Postal Service to bring
revolutionary products and services to its customers. In this way, the
legislation balances the revenue needs of the Postal Service with its prime
directive. In sum, H.R. 22 empowers the Postal Service to remain a vibrant
participant in the communications market. At this point, I would like to
highlight a number of our observations about HR. 22.
Postmasters strongly
agree with you that greater price and operational flexibility will permit the
Postal Service to be more responsive to the changing needs of our expanding
customer base. We agree with you that neither the Postal Service nor its
customers should continue to be burdened by the protracted and overly cumbersome
rate-setting process. We will continue to work with4
you to flesh out the
specifics of the noncompetitive category market baskets, the rate-setting
issues, and the appropriate formula for determining price changes.
Postmasters support the provision added by Representative Gilman that would
preclude the Postal Regulatory Commission from penalizing the Postal Service for
providing postal employees with fair compensation.
Having said that,
Postmasters remain concerned about the direct appropriation for the Postal
Regulatory Commission. We believe that such a relationship between the Congress
and the PRC could resurrect the type of congressional micro management of the
Postal Service that the original Postal Reorganization Act sought to eliminate.
In addition, it would provide a new avenue for our for-profit detractors to
financially cripple the Postal Service.
Postmasters applaud your efforts to
permit the Postal Service to execute negotiated service agreements with its
customers. However, NAPUS would like to work with you to provide the Postal
Service with more latitude in negotiating such agreements.
Postmasters also
appreciate your recognition that communities should have greater involvement in
decisions to close post offices. A post office is the anchor of many communities
throughout the country. As a result, the Postal Service should not hide behind
"emergency suspensions" to terminate full-service postal operations in many
communities. It's ironic that the Postal Service was more concerned about the
public's view of which graphic version of Elvis Presley would grace that stamp
than it is about a community's view about the continued presence of its post
office.
Postmasters continue to be concerned about contraction of the
double- postage rule. We believe that revenue earned through "Priority Mail," a
highly popular postal product, will be siphoned off by the for- profit sector.
This would leave the Postal Service with Priority Mail to be delivered to
high-cost, low-volume areas, raising the unit price for product. In addition,
revenue attributable to this product will be lost by the Postal Service,
reducing financial support for universal service.
Lastly, Postmasters
respectfully request you consider the suggestions made by the Postal Service to
modify your legislation. We believe that many of the agency's proposed
amendments would help improve on the trail-blazing work that you have completed.
Mr. Chairman, we recognize that postal reorganization,
reform, modernization, or transformation - call it whatever
term is most appropriate - has been an extremely challenging venture. I know
that each and every postmaster appreciates the long hours you, your fellow
Subcommittee members and your staff have put into this effort. The road that
this Subcommittee has traveled has been a long and difficult one. As you
recognize, there is still a long way to go, and it won' t get any easier.
Postmasters look forward to continuing to assist you and your staff members in
the journey.
Together, we will chart a course to strengthen the Postal
Service.
Thank you.
END
LOAD-DATE: February
12, 1999 
