FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2010


KLMNO


EZ SU One house helps another


THE FEDERAL WORKER Solutions for survival


FEDERAL DIARY Joe Davidson


P


atrickR.Donahoe beganhis first congressionalhearing aspostmaster general-


designate ona sunnynote. “Despite recentheadlines, the


Postal Service remains a very strong andmotivated organization,”he tolda Senate HomelandSecurity and GovernmentAffairs subcommittee onThursday. Motivatedfor sure. Butmoments afterDonahoe’s


brief bit of optimism,he describedanorganizationthat is financially veryweak. “Our total loss for [fiscal 2010]


yearwas$8.5 billion,” said Donahoe,who officially becomes postmaster general Saturday. “This is a stunningnumber in


many aspects, andit is unsustainable.” Onthatpoint, everyone agrees.


PHOTOS BY TRACY A. WOODWARD/THE WASHINGTON POST


First ladyMichelle Obama greets injured service members, their families and guests, who included Chase Temple, left, 2, who attended the dedication ceremony outside the first completed of three FisherHouse homes at the NationalNavalMedical Center in Bethesda. The FisherHouse Foundation, which provides housing for families of patients receiving medical care at military andVeterans Affairs hospitals, was among the 10 charities that President Obama chose to support with hisNobel Peace Prize money. FisherHouse received the largest share, $250,000, most of which helped pay for the construction.


There’s less agreement onhowto nurse theU.S.Postal Service back tohealth,particularly onwhat it says is a vital remedy: cutting one day ofdelivery. Whatever the fix, all agree the


serviceneedshelpfast. “The truthis thatwe’re rapidly


approaching a timewhenwemay no longer be able todependon thePostal Service,” saidSen.Tom Carper (D-Del.), chairmanof the federal services subcommittee. “That timemay come less thana year fromnow.” Sen. SusanCollins ofMaine,


the topRepublicanonthe full committee, summedupthePostal Service’s financial conditionwith oneword: “abysmal.” Donahoe saidthe$8.5 billion


GSA to transfer e-mail to cloud-based system


Agency is government’s first to make switch in push to Web computing


BY MARJORIE CENSER The General Services Adminis-


tration has announced that it will bethe first federalagency tomove e-mail to a cloud-based system, reflecting the government’s push to adoptWeb-based computing. The GSA awarded a $6.7 mil-


lion, five-year task order to Uni- sys, a Pennsylvania-based con- tractor that hasanextensive pres- ence in theWashington area.Uni- sys is partnering with Google, Tempus Nova and Acumen Solu- tions.


Casey Coleman, the GSA’s chief


information officer, said theagen- cy will migrate 17,000 e-mail ac- counts, including those ofgovern- ment employees and contractors. The shift to the cloud means


the agency will access software and other computing resources on demand. Cloud computing ad- vocates say the technology’s reli- anceonashared pool of resources makes it possible for networks, servers and other equipment to be used more efficiently.


Coleman said the move means


users will see immediate up- grades when improvements are madeto the e-mail program, rath- er than having to wait for individ- ual computers to be updated. Additionally, she said it will near- ly cut in half the GSA’s e-mail spending compared with the ex- isting in-house program. The GSA“is leading the federal


government going into the cloud and showing what is possible,” she said.


Coleman sought to dispel con-


cerns about security, noting that the contract specifies that the GSA will retain ownership and control of its data. If the GSA ends the contract,


the data must be removed from the contractor’s servers, she said. The agency expects to com-


plete the migration by the end of September. The Office ofManagement and


Budget announced last month that the government was adopt- ing a “cloud-first” policy,meaning that federal agencies will be re- quired to default to cloud-based solutions. The GSA said its award is “in step” with that strategy. censerm@washpost.com


Marjorie Censer is a reporter for Capital Business.


MARK ELIAS/ASSOCIATED PRESS


You might think that’sVladimir Putin, left, and DmitryMedvedev, but you’d be confusingRussia withGotham City. It happens a lot.


Riddle me this


Now that you know State Department cables tend to put things in terms of Batman and Robin, who might you cast as superheroes and villains as you look at global relations? Al Kamen has some ideas. In the Loop, A24


Database on product safety to go public


Starting in March, consumers will be able to check on toys, appliances and other items in a move nearly unprecedented for a government agency. A24


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The Federal Page


“reflects twopaymentsnotunder our control”—$5.5 billionfor a legislativelymandatedpre- payment for retireehealth benefits and$2.5 billionfor a workers compensation accounting adjustment. Practically bragging,he said


that operating losseswere amere $500million.That’s bigmoney in manyplaces, butnotmuchwhen comparedto thePostal Service’s greater losses. Itdoesnot rely on taxdollars. Carper andCollins eachhave


introducedlegislationdesigned to keepUSPS fromdeath’sdoor. BothwouldallowthePostal


Service to recoup$50 billionthat thePostalRegulatory CommissionestimatesUSPShas overpaidinto theCivil Service Retirement System. Carpers saidhisPOSTAct,


short forPostalOperations Sustainment andTransformation Act,wouldallowthePostal Service touse thatmoney topay for retireehealthbenefits, an obligationthathas significantly worsenedits financialproblems. “Thiswouldtake$5.5 billionor


more off thePostal Service’s books eachyear andprevent a catastrophic shutdowninthe comingmonths,”Carper said. BothbillswouldallowUSPS to


close existing facilities and, in some cases, locate theminretail establishments. “Iwant topoint out that before


co-locationdecisions couldbe made, the billwoulddirect the


B3


are Postal Service’s high priority


Postal Service toweighthe impact of anydecisions onsmall communities andrural areas and solicit community input,”Collins saidina statement. “The bill also wouldrequire that co-location doesnotdiminishthe quality of service.” Onthe questionof reducing


delivery service fromsixdays to five,Donahoe,during an interviewafterhe testified, said themove is “crucial” to returning USPS to financialhealth.Carper’s legislationwouldgiveUSPS authority to cut oneday of service without congressional approval. “Unfortunately,Congress each


yearprevents thePostal Service fromexercising its authority to changedelivery frequencywhen it believes thatdoing so is necessary,”he said. “I’mnot an advocate of eliminating Saturday delivery. . . .But I amanadvocate of giving thePostal Service the freedomtomanage, especially whenour interfering inmanage- mentdecisions couldprevent the achievement of somuchin savings at sucha critical time.” Postalunionsdon’t see any


goodarguments for five-day delivery. FredricV.Rolando,president


of theNationalAssociationof LetterCarriers, saiddoing away withSaturdaydeliverywould eliminate 80,000jobsduring a recession. “Congresswouldessentially be


outsourcing a keypublicpolicy decisiontowhoever occupies the positionofpostmaster general at any giventime,”he said. “There wouldbenoway toprevent the Postal Service fromdropping two or eventhreedays ofdeliveryper week.” Donahoedidraise the


possibility of three-day service duringhis testimony but saidthat possibility remainedyears away.


Volunteers honored Sixpeoplewerehonoredby the


StateDepartment onThursday for outstanding volunteer service abroad. The awards recognizeU.S.


government employees, family members, includingdomestic partners, andothers at embassies andconsulates “who gave exceptional volunteer service to their communities,missionor host country, or rendered outstanding assistance in emergencies,” according to a department statement. The awardwinners are: ShirleyA.Winter, a family


member of a federal employee, who implementeda swimand water safetyprograminYaounde, Cameroon. ShameeraM.Wiest, a family


memberwho volunteeredwith theU.N.HighCommissioner for Refugees inKualaLumpur, Malaysia. MelissaE. Schraibman, a


foreignservice employee, andher partner,MindyR.Michels,helped activists createprograms for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgenderpeople inTirana, Albania. BethA.Brownson, a foreign


service employee,workedwith children’s shelters inMumbai and assistedemployees at theU.S. consulate looking to volunteer . JoseM.Torres, a foreign


service spouse,helpedtrain canine searchandrescue teams inCostaRica andEl Salvador. federaldiary@washpost.com


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