Nominations of Hon. James C. Miller Iii, Stephen Crawford, D
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S. Hrg. 113–704 NOMINATIONS OF HON. JAMES C. MILLER III, STEPHEN CRAWFORD, D. MICHAEL BENNETT, AND VICTORIA REGGIE KENNEDY TO BE GOVERNORS, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION NOMINATIONS OF HON. JAMES C. MILLER III, STEPHEN CRAWFORD, D. MICHAEL BENNETT, AND VICTORIA REGGIE KENNEDY TO BE GOVERNORS, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE JULY 14, 2014 Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov/ Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 91–172 PDF WASHINGTON : 2015 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware Chairman CARL LEVIN, Michigan TOM COBURN, Oklahoma MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri ROB PORTMAN, Ohio JON TESTER, Montana RAND PAUL, Kentucky MARK BEGICH, Alaska MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota GABRIELLE A. BATKIN, Staff Director JOHN P. KILVINGTON, Deputy Staff Director LAWRENCE B. NOVEY, Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs DEIRDRE G. ARMSTRONG, Professional Staff Member KATHERINE C. SYBENGA, Senior Counsel KEITH B. ASHDOWN, Minority Staff Director CHRISTOPHER J. BARKLEY, Minority Deputy Staff Director ANDREW C. DOCKHAM, Minority Chief Counsel JOSEPH D. MOELLER, Minority U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General Detailee LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk LAUREN M. CORCORAN, Hearing Clerk (II) C O N T E N T S Opening statements: Page Senator Carper ................................................................................................. 1 Senator Markey ................................................................................................ 5 Prepared statement: Senator Carper ................................................................................................. 39 Senator Markey ................................................................................................ 41 Senator Warren ................................................................................................ 43 WITNESSES MONDAY, JULY 14, 2014 Hon. James C. Miller, III, to be a Governor, U.S. Postal Service ....................... 6 Stephen Crawford to be a Governor, U.S. Postal Service .................................... 8 D. Michael Bennett to be a Governor, U.S. Postal Service .................................. 10 Victoria Reggie Kennedy to be a Governor, U.S. Postal Service ......................... 13 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF WITNESSES Bennett, D. Michael: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 10 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 48 Biographical and financial information .......................................................... 130 Letter from the Office of Government Ethics ................................................. 146 Responses to pre-hearing questions ................................................................ 150 Responses to post-hearing questions .............................................................. 165 Crawford, Stephen: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 8 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 46 Biographical and financial information .......................................................... 95 Letter from the Office of Government Ethics ................................................. 105 Responses to pre-hearing questions ................................................................ 109 Responses to post-hearing questions .............................................................. 125 Kennedy, Victoria Reggie: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 13 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 49 Biographical and financial information .......................................................... 169 Letter from the Office of Government Ethics ................................................. 191 Responses to pre-hearing questions ................................................................ 196 Responses to post-hearing questions .............................................................. 213 Miller, Hon. James C., III.: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 6 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 44 Biographical and financial information .......................................................... 52 Letter from the Office of Government Ethics ................................................. 72 Responses to pre-hearing questions ................................................................ 77 Responses to post-hearing questions .............................................................. 91 (III) PENDING NOMINATIONS FOR GOVERNORS, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE MONDAY, JULY 14, 2014 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 3:04 p.m., in room 342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Thomas R. Carper, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. Present: Senator Carper. Also present: Senator Markey. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN CARPER Chairman CARPER. The Committee will come to order, and that includes the former Senator from Connecticut who is sitting in the audience behind Senator Markey. Chris, nice to see you. I think all of us were for Vicki until you and Eddie showed up. [Laughter.] It will be a close call on that. We will see if we cannot get it through and try to get it done. Senator Markey, I do not know what kind of timeframe that you are on, but if you can give me some flavor, I want to be respectful of your time. I am going to give a statement for about the next probably 45 minutes. [Laughter.] Probably the next 5 or 6 minutes and then introduce our nomi- nees. And at some point in time, if you would like, you can go first in introducing Ms. Kennedy, or you can go later. What works for you? Senator MARKEY. Whatever is most convenient for you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman CARPER. Aren’t you nice? Senator MARKEY. Honestly, I am at your discretion. Chairman CARPER. All right. That was very senatorial, I thought. All right. Let me just give my statement. And Senator Coburn is flying in from Oklahoma. I think his plane will be in around a little before 3:30, and he will join us as quickly as he can. But we are meeting today to consider four nominations, as you know, to fill vacancies on the U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Gov- ernors—important positions. We are considering these nominations at what is a very challenging time for the Postal Service. I like to quote Albert Einstein. He used to say, in adversity lies opportunity. (1) 2 And, while there is adversity for the United States Postal Service (USPS) now and in the last several years, there is great oppor- tunity as well, and we will talk a little bit about that when we get underway. The Postal Service operates at the center of a massive printing, delivery, and logistics industry that employs millions of people. I have heard as many as seven or eight million people. And, even as First-Class Mail, like letters, greeting cards and even wedding invi- tations are losing ground to other forms of communication, I think the future is bright for the Postal Service in a number of ways. Ad- vertising mail is still a popular and effective option for mail as we are reminded every day when we check our mail. E-commerce and package delivery are also booming, making the Postal Service a vital partner for businesses both large and small. Even the Postal Service’s traditional competitors rely on it to carry items the last mile, to the last 5 miles, or the last 10 miles or even further to rural communities around our country. For years, many people have questioned whether the Postal Serv- ice has a future. These developments that I have mentioned tell me, at least, that it does and potentially a very bright one. But all of this is at risk if those of us here in Congress continue to prove incapable of making the kind of tough decisions necessary to make the Postal Service competitive in the years to come. As important as the Board of Governors is, Congress holds the keys to the Postal Service’s future. The men and women on the Board—including those before us today, should they be confirmed—have little chance of success unless we do our jobs and pass comprehensive postal re- form legislation. The Postal Service today carries barely enough cash to make payroll. Its line of credit with the Treasury, as you may know, is maxed out at $15 billion. And it has been incapable for years of making capital investments, including the technological invest- ments necessary to compete with an United Parcel Service (UPS) or a Federal Express (FedEx). Things are