Stamp Collecting with GS

Support a World Trade Center Stamp

Because of the depth and scope of the tragedy of 11 September 2001 and how it has touched everyone within the United States and most of the rest of the world, the United States Postal Service should issue a regular definitive stamp for first class postage as soon as it is technically possible.

The first step in proposing such a stamp is to contact the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, which evaluates the merits of all stamp proposal ideas and passes their recommendations on to the Postmaster General of the United States, who has final approval.

They review all the proposals received when they meet four times a year in Washington, D.C., and review proposals that have been received since the previous meeting. The Committee has 15 members, all with an interest in philately and the needs of the postal system public.

I am in favor of a regular definitive stamp issue, rather than a "commemorative" stamp because commemoratives are printed in fixed quantities and generally are withdrawn from sale in one year.

I am also in favor of the USPS charging a penny more than the first class postage rate for each World Trade Center stamp, as long as all those millions of pennies are used to help support the recovery efforts in New York and Washington, DC.

To support a new World Trade Center stamp issue send your letter to the following address:

Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
c/o Stamp Development
U.S. Postal Service
475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
Room 5670
Washington, D.C. 20260-2437

(The CSAC does not have an official e-mail address, nor are member's personal e-mail addresses made public.)

We've all been shaken by the events in New York and Washington, but I'm sure we'll get through whatever comes our way. Though technology makes it possible for small groups of people to seem more powerful than they really are, as long as good people decide to act in positive ways, we'll pull through these times.

Give blood. Read some books about our recent past and try to help others to live a better life today and tomorrow. It really is a wonderful world.

• Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee

  Feel free to copy portions of this story and send to the CSAC of the USPS.