On the recordApril 24, 2012
the score for the substitute is incredibly misleading. As the Postal Service has told us, this bill would save the Postal Service $19 billion, and that would return it to profitability. The problem is the unique status of the Postal Service in that it is off-budget for operations but on-budget for workers' benefits accounts. This is true despite the fact that these accounts the Postal Service pays into are not funded with tax dollars. The postal employees are contributing. The Postal Service, from its revenue, is contributing. For the retirement accounts, we are not talking about tax dollars from the Postal Service. These are contributions from the postal employees and by the Postal Service from its revenues. But because of the unified budget, it is considered to be an on-budget status for these benefit accounts--most likely because they are shared with other Federal agencies that are using tax dollars. I urge my colleagues to vote for the motions to waive. If they do not and this bill falls, it will spell the end of the Postal Service. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
