Release No. 06-2 February 9, 2006
Contact: Robert E. McLean
bmclean@mailers.org
703-418-0390
Mailers Council Applauds Passage of S 662
WASHINGTON, DC, February 9, 2006—Mailers Council Executive Director Robert E. McLean today issued the following statement in response to Senate passage of S 662, a bill to reform the postal laws of the United States.
“We thank Senators Susan Collins and Tom Carper for their tireless support of this landmark legislation. Tonight’s vote is a tribute to bipartisan congressional action and a united mailing community—mailers, unions and management associations—all fighting for a financially healthy Postal Service.
“We find the Postal Service’s dire warning of 20% rate increases if the bill passes unwarranted. Both the House and Senate postal reform bills include rate caps limiting postage increases to the Consumer Price Index. As important, the bills would eliminate the onerous provisions of a 2003 law that created the escrow account and a military pension policy that threaten to price the Postal Service out of existence.
“Mailers of every size, including nonprofit mailers, look forward to a conference committee where we can work out differences between the House and Senate bills. This process will be difficult, but no more so than gaining passage of postal reform bills in both the House and Senate in the same Congress, something not done since 1971.”
The Mailers Council is a coalition of corporations, nonprofit organizations and major mailing associations. Collectively the Council accounts for 70 percent of the nation's mail volume. The Mailers Council believes that the USPS can be operated more efficiently, supports efforts aimed at lowering postal costs, and has the ultimate objective of containing postal rates without compromising service.
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Note to Media: For background material PL 108-18, the Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act, call 703-418-0390, or send an email to bmclean@mailers.org.