{"id":4401,"date":"2012-05-11T22:30:04","date_gmt":"2012-05-12T03:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=4401"},"modified":"2012-05-11T22:30:04","modified_gmt":"2012-05-12T03:30:04","slug":"members-of-congress-seek-extension-of-moratorium-on-closing-of-post-offices-and-processing-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2012\/05\/11\/members-of-congress-seek-extension-of-moratorium-on-closing-of-post-offices-and-processing-centers\/","title":{"rendered":"Members of Congress Seek Extension of Moratorium On Closing of Post Offices and Processing Centers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

More than 100 U.S. representatives have signed a letter to Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe<\/a> [PDF], urging him to extend the moratorium on the closure of post offices and mail processing facilities, and asking him to refrain from cutting hours at rural offices.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe write to urge you to extend the May 15 moratorium on post office and mail processing facility closures until the Congress has completed action on postal reform legislation, including any action that would result in cuts to rural postal services such as cutting back hours at rural facilities,\u201d the May 9 letter said.<\/p>\n

The passage of a postal reform bill in the Senate \u201cis evidence that Congress is moving toward putting the United States Postal Service on a path to sustainability,\u201d 107 House members said. \u201cWe understand that the USPS cannot sustain itself under its current system, and we agree it is up to Congress to act,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

Recently the Postmaster General has said there won\u2019t be a large number of closures as soon as the moratorium expires, but he has not agreed to extend the moratorium.<\/p>\n

But postal workers, along with many lawmakers and postal customers, are unwilling to rely on his public reassurances that closures will be handled methodically and will not be disruptive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Postmaster General\u2019s positions and plans have changed many times in the last year, but his strategy has been consistent,\u201d said APWU Executive Vice President Greg Bell. \u201cHis goal is to cut jobs, close post offices and mail processing facilities, and dismantle the postal network. We must do everything we can to stop him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Postal Service should drop its plans to cut service, and develop a strategy to expand service and strengthen the USPS,\u201d Bell added.<\/p>\n

Forty-seven senators have also asked the Postmaster General to extend the moratorium. The four co-sponsors of a Senate bill asked Donahoe to extend the moratorium until after legislation is enacted. In a letter dated April 30<\/a>, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), wrote, \u201cThere is considerable concern in the Senate that this approach will unnecessarily degrade the infrastructure which is one of the Postal Service\u2019s most important assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe an attempt to proceed with the planned closures \u2014 to \u2018get in under the wire\u2019 while legislation to the contrary is being considered \u2014 would be counterproductive and would violate the clear intent of the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n

On May 2, 43 senators, including 37 Democrats, five Republicans, and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT) also asked Donahoe to extend the moratorium on the closing of post offices and mail processing facilities. They wrote<\/a> [PDF], \u201cWe are deeply concerned that the closing of these postal facilities prior to postal reform legislation being enacted would be devastating to communities around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, three Republicans \u2014 Sen. John McCain (AZ), Sen. Tom Coburn (OK), and Sen. Bob Corker (TN) \u2014 have urged Donahoe to proceed with planned closures and other cutbacks. \u201cDespite the Senate’s passage last week of S. 1789, the 21st Century Postal Service Act of 2012, we believe it is very unlikely that both the House and Senate will come to agreement on legislation that reforms the postal system anytime soon and strongly encourage you to move forward with the cost-saving changes you have previously outlined,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 100 U.S. representatives have signed a letter to Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe [PDF], urging him to extend the moratorium on the closure of post offices and mail processing facilities, and asking him to refrain from cutting hours at rural offices. \u201cWe write to urge you to extend the May 15 moratorium on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking","category-apwu-news","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4401"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4404,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4401\/revisions\/4404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}