John M. McHugh

Thank you very much, Jay. It's a great privilege, as always, to report again on this outstanding program.

As you have indicated in the past, this Congress to Campus program has been administered by our association now for 3 years in cooperation with the Stennis Center. During that time, the program has experienced marked growth and has expanded to include a number of community colleges as well as traditional universities.

As most of you know, this is the association's flagship program. It sends bipartisan teams of former Members to colleges, universities, and high schools across the country to educate the next generation of leaders on the importance of civic engagement. The participating students benefit from the interaction with our association members, whose knowledge and experience clearly are a unique resource. Our members at the same time benefit through their continued involvement in public service and the ability to engage young people on issues of real importance to them.

During each visit, our bipartisan team conducts classes, meets individually with students and faculty, speaks to campus media, participates in both campus and community forums, and meets with local citizens. The program has made both domestic and international visits this academic year, including two separate visits to campuses in the United Kingdom. During the 2009-2010 academic year, the program has made a total of 22 campus visits. More than 35 former Members participated, and I want to thank all of you who took the time from your busy schedules to do so. I also want to encourage those who have not yet had the opportunity to seriously consider doing so. It's a great way to continue our public service after Congress.

I also want to thank the faculty, staff members and students who worked so diligently on each of these visits. Without the hard work of these folks, these visits would not have been possible at all.

We have continued our relationship with the Stennis Center for Public Service in the administration of the program, and we owe a special debt of gratitude, I think, to Tracy Fine of our staff and to Brother Rogers of the Stennis Center for their fine work throughout the year. Our staffs work very closely together to make the program such a success and we also appreciate the continuing financial support from the Stennis Center. We look forward to our continuing association in the years ahead.

In addition to the expansion of the program to community colleges, and with the help of a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the program has also commenced a concerted effort in partnership with the University of Central Florida and the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government to reach out to high school students

through a series of webcasts. These programs focus on specific topics related to Congress and the legislative process and are designed as a tool for teachers to showcase these topics and encourage involvement in government. During the fall and the spring, the program was piloted to high schools in Florida and around the country. The broadcasts were taped and streamed live with an in-studio audience of high school students in Washington as part of the Congressional Youth Leadership Council.

We have also continued our working relationship with the People to People Ambassador Program that brings young people to our Nation's capital for a week of events centered on the concepts of character and leadership. This year, the association sent former Members to 30 different speaking engagements in this area and reached hundreds of students through these appearances. These students are younger than those who participate in Congress to Campus activities, but they have already demonstrated a commitment to the ideals that Congress to Campus seeks to promote. The association's involvement in this program allows our members living in the Washington area to speak to these younger students on the importance of public service and to answer their many questions about our country and its government. A number of our members continue to work full-time, and the People to People engagements allow them to continue their public service in this way. The events are typically held in the early morning at suburban locations. Again, I want to thank my colleagues, especially Orval Hansen, Jack Buechner and Martin Frost, who have participated in this program regularly over the past year.

Finally, Jay, I want to say again how grateful we are to those who have made the Congress to Campus program such a great success, and I strongly encourage all of my friends and colleagues to participate in this program either by making a visit to a school or by recommending a school to host the program. As you know, a democracy can prosper only if its citizens are both informed and engaged. As former legislators, we have a particular opportunity and responsibility to encourage such involvement. This program gives us the chance to do so, particularly with our young people.

Again, many thanks to you for your leadership. My congratulations to our friend and colleague, Bill Gray, on this award, and it is great to see all of you back again.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to thank and recognize the men and women

who constitute my Congressional staff. I greatly appreciate their service to me and the people of New York's 23rd Congressional District, which I have had the privilege and honor to represent since 1993.

New York's 23rd Congressional District encompasses 11 counties in Northern and Central New York: Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Oswego, and St. Lawrence. It is bounded by Lake Champlain on the east, the St. Lawrence River to the north, and Lake Ontario to the west. Additionally, it includes the Thousand Islands and most of the Adirondack Park, which have both long been world renowned for their incredible beauty. The District is also home to historic battlefields, such as Fort Ticonderoga, Ogdensburg, Plattsburgh and Sackets Harbor, and it has been the birthplace of national leaders including former Vice President William A. Wheeler of Malone and former House of Representatives Minority Leader Bertrand H. Snell of Colton. However, most importantly, it is where a capable, generous, independent, proud, and resourceful people reside.

During the time I have had the honor of representing the people of Northern and Central New York, I have been blessed to have had a dedicated and talented staff. Given my time as staff to former New York State Senator H. Douglas Barclay, I can well appreciate their efforts. While I value the efforts of everyone who has served on my staff, at this time I would like to recognize the following men and women who have served during the 111th Congress: Michael Backus, Donna Bell, Karen Brayton, Diane Henderson, Mike Holland, Anne LeMay, Mira Lezell, Jason Miller, Ruth Mary Ortloff, Matt Satterley, John Sweeney, Robert Taub, Melanie Turpin, Stephanie Valle, and Kate Wehrle. As I have candidly confessed on more than one occasion, I simply could have never fulfilled the duties of my office without their tireless efforts. Accordingly, at this time, I wish to thank them for their excellent service and wish them my best for a productive future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the proud sponsor of H.R. 22, a bipartisan bill

with 339 cosponsors that would provide immediate but temporary financial relief to the Postal Service. As a Member who has closely followed postal legislative issues for more than 14 years, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation. I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) for their work to bring this legislation to the floor today.

As every Member of Congress and most Americans are aware, the Postal Service faces a crisis of huge and historic proportions, despite extensive efforts to reduce costs. This situation is due to the precipitous decline in mail volume brought about by the deepening recession, changes in technology and society, and the economic condition of the agency's largest customer, the financial services industry.

Additionally, the Postal Service is laboring under a crippling cost burden imposed by a statutory requirement that the Postal Service prefund the health benefits of future retirees, while still continuing to pay annual premiums for its current retirees. The payment for current retirees totals about $2 billion and is growing each year. At the same time, the annual statutorily-mandated prefunding ranges from $5.4 billion to $5.8 billion over the 10-year period from 2007 through 2016.

In 2008, the Postal Service's total retiree health benefits costs came to $7.4 billion, with $1.8 billion of that amount paid for current retirees and $5.6 billion deposited into the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund to prefund future premium payments. Without the mandated payments, the Postal Service would have achieved a positive net income in 2008 rather than its actual $2.8 billion loss. It is important to note that no other entity--public or private--is required to prepay this health benefit obligation at these extremely high levels.

As amended, H.R. 22 would begin to address this serious situation. It would do so by simply accelerating, for just the remainder of fiscal year 2009, a provision in the law to allow the Postal Service to pay the health premiums for current retirees from the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits fund; this fund already holds in excess of $32 billion and will continue to grow. H.R. 22 does not require an appropriation or use of any taxpayer monies, but rather involves merely an intragovernmental transfer of funds. It would not increase the health benefit premiums paid by current or future Postal Service retirees, nor would it affect their benefits. Put simply, it is not a bailout.

The Postal Service is in a dire financial situation, and while H.R. 22 is not the full answer to all of the Service's woes, it is an important solution to alleviate the pressure before the agency risks running out of money at the end of this month. According to the committee, the amended version considered on the floor of the House today does not score based on the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) evaluation. This is not a budget gimmick because the fact of the matter is that the Postal Service cannot adjust its spending for this fiscal year so late. Any cost cutting the Postal Service would have made for the fiscal year ending September 30 has already taken place and cannot be reversed.

Again, the main driver of the Postal Service's debt has been the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act's (P.L. 109-435) requirement to prefund 80 percent of its future retiree health benefit costs, a 75- year liability, in just 10 years. No other business or government entity does that. As I noted, if it had not been for this prefunding, the Postal Service would have had a profit in 2008, in spite of the economic turndown. That is why 339 Members of the House have put their name as sponsors on H.R. 22.

Mr. Speaker, there is a consensus that Congress should enact H.R. 22, which is strongly supported by the Postal Service, all of its unions and management associations. It is also supported by the entire $900 billion mailing industry, which employs 9 million Americans. Accordingly, I ask my colleagues to support this legislation and work with me to enact it into law.