Nominations Hearing

Clay Johnson to be Deputy Director for Management
Office of Management and Budget

Albert Casey to be Governor
United States Postal Service

James C. Miller to be Governor
United States Postal Service

Opening Remarks of Senator Susan Collins
Chairman

April 2, 2003

Today, the Committee on Governmental Affairs is holding a hearing to consider the nominations of Clay Johnson to be Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget, and Albert Casey and James Miller to be members of the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service.

The Office of Management and Budget has an ambitious, two-pronged mission. On the one hand, it oversees the preparation of the federal budget and helps formulate the President’s spending plans. On the other hand, OMB oversees federal procurement, financial management, information, and regulatory policies in all executive branch agencies. But despite its dual mission, the agency has gravitated increasingly toward one side, to the point where the “M” in OMB has seemed, at times, to be little more than a silent partner.

I am pleased, therefore, that this Administration has placed more emphasis on management issues. The President’s Management Agenda, for example, is meant to ensure that management issues are appropriately considered and addressed. And, OMB has a central role in ensuring the Agenda is carried out. OMB is responsible for assessing agencies’ performance in five key areas: financial management, human resources, e-government, competitive sourcing, and linking budget to performance.

The Administration is also attempting to link management and budget issues through its Program Assessment Rating Tool, also known as PART. This tool is intended to help identify strengths and weaknesses in programs in order to hold agencies more accountable and ensure that they are performing optimally. OMB is responsible for further refining and improving this tool, while working with agencies to develop better performance measures, and collect accurate and timely data.

The management challenges that OMB faces are extremely important. Ensuring good management in an array of areas, including information technology, personnel, financial systems, and procurement, can help to ensure that agencies are carrying out their responsibilities in the most effective manner. Efficient management can save taxpayers’ money and lead to more accountability.

I am pleased that Mr. Johnson has agreed to take on this challenge. His extensive management background in both the public and private sectors would certainly help provide him with the experience and tools he will need as Deputy Director for Management.

I am also pleased that today we are considering the nominations of Albert Casey and James Miller to be Governors of the United States Postal Service. The Postal Service is in the midst of serious financial and operational problems, the effects of which affect the economy as a whole. It is the linchpin of a $900 billion mailing industry that employs nine million Americans in fields as diverse as direct mailing, printing, and paper production. As members of the Board of Governors, Mr. Casey and Mr. Miller would be faced with a multitude of challenges that must be overcome if the Postal Service is to provide affordable, universal service for everyone across America. It has been more than thirty years since the Postal Reorganization Act was passed. The time has come to re-assess how the Postal Service should adapt to its customers, competitors and technology, and best fulfill its mission in the 21st century.

The White House Commission on the Postal Service is in the midst of examining the financial and operational problems confronting the Postal Service. At the end of July, the Commission will release a report on their findings, including recommendations for legislative change. I am a strong supporter of the Commission and believe it has the potential to help us find solutions to some of the Postal Service’s tremendous challenges.

For my part, I believe that privatization is not the answer. The need to preserve a strong and universal Postal Service is clear, particularly in states with large rural areas, such as Maine. Most commercial enterprises would find it uneconomical, if not impossible, to deliver mail and packages to rural Americans at the same rates that the Postal Service offers.

Mr. Casey and Mr. Miller would bring strong credentials and experience to the positions to which they have been nominated. As Members of the Postal Service Board of Governors, they would be charged with overseeing the Postal Service and guiding it through the approval of all major policies and initiatives. In this sense, the three nominees before us today, if confirmed, would face similar responsibilities and challenges.