WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Joe Lieberman (D-CT) today announced that the Committee has approved landmark legislation to reform the U.S. Postal Service (S. 2468), along with several bills affecting the federal workforce, nominations, and post office naming bills.
“Our comprehensive, bipartisan legislation addresses the Postal Service’s financial concerns while strongly endorsing the basic features of universal service — affordable rates, frequent delivery, and convenient community access to retail postal services,” said Senator Collins. “Our legislation will ensure that the Postal Service will remain viable into the 21st century. I am looking forward to working with Senate leadership to bring this bill to the floor.”
Among other provisions, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2004 (S. 2468), sponsored by Chairman Collins and Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), would reform the rate-setting process and guarantee a higher degree of transparency to ensure fair treatment of customers.
“The Committee’s approval of major postal reform legislation marks a turning point in our efforts to modernize an essential service that all Americans rely upon,” Senator Lieberman said. “Senators Collins and Carper have crafted a very workable solution to the Postal Service’s longstanding financial and operational problems. I hope this legislation is approved quickly by the full Senate and House so that consumers and mailers will be assured of continued universal service at uniform rates.”
In addition to the Postal Service reform bill, legislation approved by the Committee today includes the following:
— S. 346, a bill to amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to establish a governmentwide policy requiring competition in certain executive agency procurements. (Levin)
— S. 1292, Servitude and Emancipation Archival Research ClearingHouse Act of 2003. (Landrieu)
— S. 2249, Emergency Food and Shelter Act of 2004. (Collins, Lieberman)
— S. 2322, a bill to amend chapter 90 of title 5, United States Code, to include employees of the District of Columbia courts as participants in long-term care insurance for federal employees. (Akaka)
— S. 2351, Emergency Medical Services Support Act. (Collins)
— S. 2479, a bill to amend chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for federal employees to make elections to make, modify, and terminate contributions to the Thrift Savings Fund at any time. (Collins)
— H.R. 1303, a bill to amend the E-Government Act of 2002 with respect to rulemaking authority of the Judicial Conference. (Rep. Lamar Smith)
Post Office Naming Bills
— S. 2017/H.R. 3742, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 93 Atocha Street in Ponce, Puerto Rico, as the “Luis A. Ferre United States Courthouse and Post Office Building.”
— S. 2214, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 3150 Great Northern Avenue in Missoula, Montana, as the “Mike Mansfield Post Office.”
— S. 2415, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 4141 Postmark Drive in Anchorage, Alaska, as the “Robert J. Opinsky Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 1822, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 3751 West 6th Street in Los Angeles, California, as the “Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 2130, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 121 Kinderkamack Road in River Edge, New Jersey, as the “New Bridge Landing Post Office.”
— H.R. 2438, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 115 West Pine Street in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, as the “Major Henry A. Commiskey, Sr. Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 3029/S. 1596, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 225 North Main Street in Jonesboro, Georgia as the “S. Truett Cathy Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 3059, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 304 West Michigan Street in Stuttgart, Arkansas, as the “Lloyd L. Burke Post Office.”
— H.R. 3068, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 2055 Siesta Drive in Sarasota, Florida, as the “Brigadier General (AUS-Ret.) John H. McLain Post Office.”
— H.R. 3234/S. 1763, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 14 Chestnut Street in Liberty, New York, as the “Ben R. Gerow Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 3300, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 15500 Pearl Road in Strongsville, Ohio, as the “Walter F. Ehrnfelt, Jr. Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 3353, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 525 Main Street in Tarboro, North Carolina, as the “George Henry White Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 3536, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 210 Main Street in Malden, Illinois, as the “Army Staff Sgt. Lincoln Hollinsaid Malden Post Office.”
— H.R. 3537, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 185 State Street in Manhattan, Illinois, as the “Army Pvt. Shawn Pahnke Manhattan Post Office.”
— H.R. 3538, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 201 South Chicago Avenue in Saint Anne, Illinois, as the “Marine Capt. Ryan Beaupre Saint Anne Post Office.”
— H.R. 3690/S. 2104, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 2 West Main Street in Batavia, New York, as the “Barber Conable Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 3733, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 410 Huston Street in Altamont, Kansas, as the “Myron V. George Post Office.”
— H.R.3740/S. 2153, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 223 South Main Street in Roxboro, North Carolina, as the “Oscar Scott Woody Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 3769, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 137 East Young High Pike in Knoxville, Tennessee, as the “Ben Atchly Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 3855/S. 2441, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 607 Pershing Drive in Laclede, Missouri, as the “General John J. Pershing Post Office.”
— H.R. 3917/S. 2255, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 695 Marconi Boulevard in Copiague, New York, as the “Maxine S. Postal United States Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 3939/S. 2291, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 14-24 Abbott Road in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, as the “Mary Ann Collura Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 3942, to redesignate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 7 Commercial Boulevard in Middletown, Rhode Island, as the “Rhode Island Veterans Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 4037/S. 2442, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 475 Kell Farm Drive in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, as the “Richard G. Wilson Processing and Distribution Facility.”
— H.R. 4176, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 122 West Elwood Avenue in Raeford, North Carolina, as the “Bobby Marshall Gentry Post Office Building.”
— H.R. 4299, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 410 South Jackson Road in Edinsburg, Texas, as the “Dr. Miguel A. Nevarez Post Office Building.”
Nominations
— Albert Casey, to be a Governor for the United States Postal Service
— James C. Miller, III, to be a Governor for the United States Postal Service
— David Safavian, to be Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, Office of Management and Budget
— Dawn Tisdale, to be Commissioner, Postal Rate Commission