WASHINGTON – On Thursday, January 21, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing that examines the current financial status of the U.S. Postal Service and options for reform. The hearing, “Laying Out the Reality of the U.S. Postal Service,” will include witnesses from the U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, the Postal Regulatory Commission, the Government Accountability Office, and stakeholders including union leaders and industry executives. The hearing will take place on Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. in room 342 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.
The hearing will provide an opportunity for Committee members and witnesses to examine ways to address the Postal Service’s financial challenges and help the agency improve service and adapt and grow in the 21st century, including the Improving Postal Operations, Service, and Transparency Act of 2015 (iPOST), introduced by Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Tom Carper ( D-Del.) in September 2015. The bill includes a comprehensive package of reforms that would place the Postal Service on firm financial footing, stabilize and improve service performance, allow for the development of new products and services, and enhance transparency. The bipartisan bill is cosponsored by Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).
“Our economy depends on a healthy and robust Postal Service,” said Sen. Carper. “It’s our duty in Congress to pave a fiscally sustainable path for the agency that will enable this American institution to return to solvency, improve service, and thrive in the digital age. This hearing will give our Committee members on both sides of the aisle and postal stakeholders an opportunity to assess the hurdles facing the Postal Service, identify the tools the Postal Service needs to innovate and thrive in the 21st century, and find a way forward on my bipartisan postal reform bill in an open, transparent setting. I thank Chairman Johnson for calling this hearing. I look forward to a productive hearing and to moving the ball forward on comprehensive reforms to the Postal Service in 2016.”
In November, the Postal Service announced a $5.1 billion loss for FY 2015, the 9th consecutive multi-billion dollar loss. The Postal Service currently owes $15 billion to the U.S. Treasury and faces tens of billions of dollars more in unfunded pension and health care obligations in the years to come, and has a net deficit totaling more than $50 billion.
WHAT
The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will be hosting a hearing titled, “Laying Out the Reality of the U.S. Postal Service.”
WHEN
Thursday, January 21, 2016
9:30 a.m.
WHERE
342 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.
WITNESS LIST
Panel I
Megan J. Brennan
Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer
U.S. Postal Service
The Honorable Robert G. Taub
Acting Chairman
Postal Regulatory Commission
Lori Rectanus
Director, Physical Infrastructure
U.S. Government Accountability Office
The Honorable David C. Williams
Inspector General
U.S. Postal Service
James E. Millstein
Former Chief Restructuring Officer at the U.S. Department of the Treasury
and Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Millstein & Co.
Panel II
Fredric V. Rolando
President
National Association of Letter Carriers
John “Chip” Hutcheson III
President
National Newspaper Association
Kathy Collins
General Manager, Rothschild Mill
Domtar Paper Company