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Feb. 14, 2003 2 p.m.

USPS thanks members of Congress for bipartisan efforts to reduce CSRS payments

USPS Senior V.P. of Government Relations Ralph Moden thanked members of the Senate and House for bipartisan legislation introduced Feb. 12 that would allow the United States Postal Service to reduce its payments to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).

In a statement released today, Moden noted that without this legislative change, the Postal Service could overfund CSRS by more than $70 billion, according to separate audits conducted by the Office of Personnel Management and the General Accounting Office.

“And,” Moden said, “as Rep. John McHugh, one of the sponsors of the House bill, so accurately pointed out: ‘If we are to sustain this $900 billion, nine million-job industry, Congress needs to do everything in its power to ensure a modicum of rate stability.’”

The Postmaster General has already stated that with legislative relief, the Postal Service would be able to hold postage rates steady until 2006.

Moden thanked Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Susan Collins and co-sponsor Sen. Thomas Carper and co-sponsor Sen. Sam Brownback.

In the House, he said USPS appreciated the efforts of Congressman McHugh, who heads the newly created Postal Service Task Force, and co-sponsors Tom Davis, chairman of the Government Reform Committee, ranking member Henry Waxman and Congressman Danny Davis, also a member of the Postal Task Force.

”We are grateful to the individual Senators and Representatives for their quick action in introducing these two pieces of legislation and look forward to working with the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Committee on Government Reform on legislation that is so important to the Postal Service and that will benefit every family and business in America,” Moden said.