Cheri Bustos, Democratic candidate for Congress, today highlighted incumbent Congressman Bobby Schilling's and the House of Representatives' failure to act on bipartisan legislation that would have saved the Rockford Postal Distribution Center. If passed, the 21st Century Postal Service Act of 2012, would have protected facilities like Rockford's, saved thousands of jobs nationwide and helped the Postal Service reduce long-term costs and increase efficiency.
"It is a shame that a bipartisan, commonsense bill that would preserve a critical service and hundreds of Illinois jobs has fallen victim to the Tea Party's misguided political agenda," said Cheri Bustos, candidate for Congress. "Instead of standing up for Illinois, incumbent Congressman Schilling and his friends in Congress failed to act, and now the community of Rockford must suffer.
"We need true leadership in Washington. We need Representatives that put the people and communities of their district before their Party. But what we have is a Congressman who just falls in line."
Yesterday, the Postal Service announced it has decided to close its Rockford Distribution and Processing Center, which is reported to cost the Rockford area nearly 200 jobs and cause delays of two to three days in mail delivery to homes and businesses in the eight northern Illinois counties served by the Rockford facility -- Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll, Whiteside, Ogle and Lee.
On April 25, 2012, the Senate passed bipartisan 21st Century Postal Service Act of 2012 (S.1789) to reform the Postal Service by a vote of 62 to 37. The bill, which includes an amendment that would have kept the Rockford facility open by requiring a new audit before the Postal Service could move forward with plans to close or consolidate that facility, has since received no action in the House of Representatives.