Congressman Ruben Hinojosa Co-Signs Letter of Support for Maintaining Rural Post Office Service
Press Release
Congressman Rubén Hinojosa, along with other members of Congress, co-signed a letter addressed to Speaker Boehner and Leader Pelosi asking that Congress work together in a bipartisan manner on postal reform legislation. The letter specifically addresses the issue of developing a business model which will allow the United States Postal Service (USPS) to maintain robust service in the 21st century.
"While I do believe we need to tighten the USPS budget, I also believe that we must respect the needs of everyone who relies on their local postal service," said U.S. Rep. Hinojosa. "We must not rush into making rash decisions that would have a drastic impact on the USPS and its employees."
One of the most drastic proposals for managing and restructuring the USPS is the call to eliminate, 3,600 or more rural post offices, eliminating six day mail service, ending next day mail service, and stopping 90% of door-to-door mail delivery.
"I am against eliminating rural post offices for the rational reason that it would only save 1% of the USPS deficit," said U.S. Rep. Hinojosa. "That would be like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Stopping 90% of door-to-door mail delivery would severely affect residents of our small towns and older communities across the country."
The USPS earns three times less revenue from non-postal sources than comparable postal services in Europe, due to a provision of the 2006 postal restructuring bill which precludes many sources of USPS revenue. An option Congress could consider is to let it operate like a business, in partnership and not competition with other businesses.
"I am willing to work hard in finding solutions to keep our U.S. Postal Service up and running and preserving the jobs of our postal employees. I along with the postal employees of the RGV-McAllen Mail Processing Center joined together to protest the suggested closing of this very important facility and we were successful. It will remain open. I hope my colleagues in Congress will join me in supporting our U.S. Postal Service."
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