July 18, 2016

The Honorable Jason Chaffetz
Chairman
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Elijah Cummings
Ranking Member
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Chaffetz and Ranking Member Cummings,

On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I appreciate your efforts to reform the ailing United States Postal Service (USPS).  USPS has $127 billion in unfunded liabilities and continues to struggle as mail volume continues to decrease. 

We are encouraged to see that the committee has included language designed to restrict the USPS from offering commercial non-postal goods and services.  The USPS should not be allowed to leverage its monopoly status to compete unfairly and unnecessarily against private sector concerns.  The jurisdiction of the proposed new chief innovation officer should be restricted to solely postal goods and services.  Under no circumstances should the USPS be permitted to delve further into goods and services in already well-served areas such as grocery delivery and financial services.

CCAGW is also concerned about provisions that would shift the costs of USPS’s retirees’ healthcare to Medicare and taxpayers.  The Medicare Trustees reported in their 2016 annual report that Medicare Part A will be depleted by 2028, two years earlier than projected last year.  The added financial burden of USPS retirees, reportedly $8 billion annually, will only hasten that trajectory. 

In addition, the bill allows for postal rate hikes in its monopoly mail products, forcing its captive mail customers to bail out financial failures in other postal products and services.   

While the committee markup includes some positive, albeit incremental, steps toward salvaging the USPS in the short term, we urge you to consider more systemic, free-market reforms such as more outsourcing and right-sizing of both facilities and personnel.  The only way to truly reform the USPS and turn it into an efficient and productive operation is to move as quickly as possible toward privatization.

Sincerely, 

Tom Schatz
President, CCAGW