``Our having pricing flexibility is very important to ... future postal health,'' Henderson told the House Government Reform post office subcommittee.
The subcommittee is working on a bill that would make changes in the law governing postal operations and is being barraged with suggestions from the post office, its competitors, major mailers, unions and other interested groups.
The subcommittee's chairman, Rep. John M. McHugh, R-N.Y., said the bill is ``not about breaking up the Postal Service, as the court system required of AT&T, nor is it about trying to force competition into the postal and delivery sector. ... The postal system is already fiercely competitive.''
Henderson noted that foreign mail services are becoming increasingly competitive, seeking parcel and other delivery business in the United States and around the world. In particular, he noted, Germany's Deutsche Post and the British Royal Mail are active internationally.
Pricing flexibility is needed to meet this competition, Henderson said, noting that it currently takes 10 months to get price changes approved by the independent Postal Rate Commission.
Postal rates increased last month for the first time in four years, with the cost of mailing a first-class letter going up a penny -- to 33 cents.
The post office has submitted a series of proposed amendments to the bill seeking more freedom in setting prices and some have accused the agency of trying to scuttle the measure through amendment.
``We're absolutely, positively, not out to kill'' the bill, Henderson said when McHugh asked him about the reports. ``We understand this is a work in progress.''
The post office has proposed amendments, Henderson said, but is not drawing any line in the sand.
One provision being discussed would set price caps on various types of mail, allowing the post office to vary its prices under those caps when dealing with large-volume mailers.
In addition, the measure would require that the Postal Service, which does not receive a taxpayer subsidy, to continue to provide universal service, bringing mail to everyone in the country regularly.
© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
