August 14, 2014 – Half of the U.S. Senate today called for a one-year moratorium on U.S. Postal Service plans to close mail processing plants and slow down first-class mail delivery. A letter signed by 50 senators said Congress should take steps to block a proposal by Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe to close up to 82 mail processing plants, slow mail services and eliminate up to 15,000 jobs. The letter urged leaders of a key Senate committee to include a one-year ban on mail delivery cuts as part of must-pass legislation to keep the government running into the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
The letter reads in part, [t]he Postal Service has already consolidated 141 mail processing facilities since 2012. As the postal network has been weakened, service delivery has suffered. Since the Postal Service slowed down the delivery of First-Class Mail over two years ago by revising its service standards, it has been more difficult for the American public and small businesses to receive mail in a timely manner.
