Ron Paul Quotes.com
1999 Ron Paul Chapter 55

H.J. Res. 55, The Mailbox Privacy Protection Act

Home Page   Contents   Congressional Record (Page E1142)  Cached

7 June 1999

HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, June 7, 1999


1999 Ron Paul 55:1
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, because this is small business appreciation week I would like to remind my colleagues of the importance of enacting HJ Res 55, the Mailbox Privacy Protection Act. HJ Res 55 repeals recently enacted Post Office regulations requiring Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies (CMRAs) to collect personal information about their customers, such as their name, address, social security number, and photograph. These regulations not only force small businesses to intrude into their customer’s privacy, they could impose costs as high as $1 billion on small businesses during the initial six-month compliance period. The long term costs of this rule are incalculable, but could conceivably reach several billion dollars in the first few years. Some small businesses may even be forced into bankruptcy.

1999 Ron Paul 55:2
Businesses like Mailboxes, etc., must turn the collected information over to the Post Office. Mr. Speaker, what business in America would not leap at the chance to force their competitors to provide them with their customer names, addresses, social security numbers, and photographs? The Post Office could even mail advertisements to those who use private mail boxes explaining how their privacy would not be invaded if they used a government box.

1999 Ron Paul 55:3
It is ironic that this regulation comes at a time when the Post Office is getting into an ever increasing number of enterprises not directly related to mail delivery. So, while the Postal Service uses its monopoly on first-class mail to compete with the private sector, it works to make life more difficult for its competitors in the field of mail delivery.

1999 Ron Paul 55:4
Mr. Speaker, Congress must do more than talk about how it appreciates small business, it must work to lift the burden of big government from America’s job-creating small businesses. Passing HJ Res 55 and protecting Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies from the Post Offices’ costly and anti-competitive regulations would be a great place to start.
Notes:
Ron Paul discusses the topic of this statement elsewhere: 1999 Ron Paul Chapter 52 and 2000 Ron Paul Chapter 15
1999 Ron Paul 55:3 an ever increasing number probably should be hyphenated: an ever-increasing number.

Previous     Next



Home Page   Contents   Concordance
  Links   E-mail list.