Madam Chairman, I want to thank you for going forward with today's hearing. I know it was not easy for you or your staff to bring this all together. I also wish to thank our House colleagues for offering their hearing room to us, and of course I want to extend my sincere appreciation to our witnesses who rearranged their schedules to be with us this afternoon. We are indeed privileged to hear their views on the workforce recommendations of the Commission on the U.S. Postal Service.

For the second time in a little over two years, we find ourselves facing the aftermath of a bioterrorist attack through the mail. The threat of bioterrorism is something I have long been concerned with, held hearings on, and have introduced legislation.

The President's FY05 budget proposal released on Monday failed to include the Postal Service's request of $779 million to help secure the mail or develop detection technologies. We can ill-afford threats to the U.S. Postal Service which is the cornerstone of a $9 billion dollar mailing industry.

Our first witnesses, representing the nation's postmasters and postal supervisors, are uniquely qualified to discuss postal operations and management. I also look forward to the testimony of our expert witnesses on pay comparability and arbitration, issues that certainly will be discussed again once we reschedule yesterday's hearing with the postal unions and the Office of Personnel Management.

The Postal Service is currently enjoying a period of stable labor/management relations, but I fear this favorable environment could change if portions of the workforce recommendations suggested by the Postal Commission are adopted.

The Commission recommendations call for implementing a pay-for-performance system for all postal employees, imposing a rigid collective bargaining procedure, tasking a new Postal Regulatory Board with determining total compensation, and requiring negotiations over benefits.

One in three federal workers is employed by the U.S. Postal Service. I urge caution in embracing any proposal that would take postal workers out of the government's pension plans and the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan, especially postal retirees. We should do no harm to retired postal workers who have already earned their benefits and planned for their retirements under the federal pension and health plans. I thank the Chairman and Senator Carper for seeking a review of whether postal-only pension and health plans would undermine the stability of the existing federal system.

Nor should postal reform legislation result in postal workers bearing the brunt of any reorganization. We should remember that the future of the Postal Service is dependent not only on how well and how effectively it manages its capital assets and services, but on how well its labor force is managed.

Thank you, Madam Chairman for conducting these postal hearings in an open and bipartisan manner. I am pleased to work with you and our colleagues to examine how to best position the Postal Service to serve the public in the 21st century and be a model employer.