<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=189 style="border-right: 1px solid #CCCCCC;" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="CAPS"><B><IMG SRC="0cf9d260.gif" border=0 width="157" height="38" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" "><I><B><IMG SRC="0ce9d260.gif" border=0 width="157" height="38" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" "><B><IMG SRC="0d09d260.gif" border=0 width="157" height="38" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="IN THE NEWS"><B><IMG SRC="0cd9d260.gif" border=0 width="157" height="38" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" "><B><IMG SRC="0d29d260.gif" border=0 width="157" height="38" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><B><IMG SRC="0d19d260.gif" border=0 width="157" height="38" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" "><B>William Clay, Sr</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" "><B>Chairman</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" RICK FARRELL"><B>Rick Farrell</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" RICK FARRELL"><B>Executive Director</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" "><I><B>"Presidential Commission Recommendations Rewrite Universal Service"</B></I></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B><U>CAPS Members: </U></B></I></div> <bR> <div> <B>AFL-CIO</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Alliance for Retired Americans</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>American Diabetes Association</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>American Postal</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <div> <B>Workers Union</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><I><B> </B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>A. Philip Randolph</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <div> <B>Institute</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Congressional Black </B></div> <div> <B>Caucus Foundation</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Consumer Action</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>National Black Caucus </B></div> <div> <B>of State Legislators</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><I><B> </B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>National Committee</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <div> <B>to Preserve Social</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <div> <B>Security and Medicare</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>National Farmers Union</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>National Organization for Women (NOW)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Women's Research and Education Institute</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>United States Hispanic Leadership Institute</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" "><B><IMG SRC="0d29d260.gif" border=0 width="157" height="38" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>  </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><IMG SRC="0764cfc0.jpg" border=0 width="332" height="252" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="07550fe0.jpg" border=0 width="336" height="254" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="09ca51f0.jpg" border=0 width="677" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="0ce9d260.gif" border=0 width="157" height="38" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <bR> <div> The U.S. Postal Service has been around for more than 230 years.  It is based on a principal called universal service—everyone, regardless of where they live, gets postal service six days a week at a uniform rate. </div> <div> In 2002, President Bush appointed a presidential commission (<A HREF="http://www.treas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/usps/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.treas.gov/offices/domestic-fi"><B>Department of the Treasury</B></A><B>)</B> to study and make a report by July 31, 2003 on possible postal reforms that could redefine universal service.  These recommendations could mean the commercialization of the Postal Service. Commercialization could lead to increased costs, reduced access, and curtailed services, for individuals and small businesses.  As stated in The Washington Post (“Policy Watch,” 3/16/03) “There’s the question of whether the Postal Service should continue to enjoy a monopoly in door-to-door delivery. Competition may lower costs for some big mailers, but it risks raising costs and degrading service for everyone else.”</div> <bR> <div> Commercialization could hit especially hard those citizens living in areas that wouldn't be as profitable for the private sector, such as remote, rural and inner-city areas.  Yet some needed reforms, such as reducing the excessive discounts provided to major advertisers that use the mail for direct marketing campaigns, do not seem to be under consideration.</div> <bR> <div> The Postal Service was reformed by Congress in 1970 and is no longer funded by taxpayer money. In the past several years, the Postal Service has had some financial difficulty.  Some is due to the big discounts the Postal Service gives to advertising mailers.  Some of it is a result of the declining mail volume and from the recent recession, and some of the problems stem from the anthrax scare.</div> <bR> <div> The causes of the current financial situation could prove to be temporary. On April 1, 2003, the Postal Service announced that it had achieved a budget surplus of $1.65 billion dollars for the first half of the fiscal year that had just ended.  However, the recommendations of the commission are expected to be the basis of new legislation that will permanently alter the United States Postal Service and the affordable, dependable universal service that is the right of every American.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#262626" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>Copyright © 2003-07 Consumer Alliance For Postal Services. All rights reserved.</B></FONT><B> </B><B> </B><B>    </B></div> <div> <B>       </B></div> <div> <B> <font size="2"><SCRIPT> document.write(Date()+".") </SCRIPT></font>  </B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>  </B></FONT><B>  </B></div> </td> </tr></table></body>