Sen. Carper Deeply Disappointed by Reports of House Delay on Postal Reform

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the subcommittee that oversees the U.S. Postal Service, reacted to recent reports that House Leadership will not consider postal reform legislation before its five-week recess beginning in August. The U.S. Postal Service is obligated to pay $5.5 billion to the Department of Treasury on August 1. Without legislation, the Postal Service will be unable to make that payment and will be forced to default:

“I find these reports that the House Leadership is now considering delaying action on postal reform legislation until after its August recess deeply disappointing. In light of the challenges that face the Postal Service and the economy as a whole, the House’s continued unwillingness to act on this issue is completely irresponsible. In April, the Senate came together to pass bipartisan postal reform legislation. Since then, the U.S. Postal Service has hemorrhaged nearly $2 billion in losses in the time that the House has sat on its hands and failed to take up our bipartisan Senate bill – or its own bill – to reform the Postal Service. Meanwhile, the House has managed to find time to vote on any number of issues – many of them highly political in nature, will never become law, and certainly don’t have the ability to preserve jobs and economic activity as postal reform would. The American mailing industry employs over 8 million people and generates almost $1 trillion in economic activity each year and a healthy Postal Service is essential to this industry. The longer the House delays action, the more consumers and businesses become uncertain about the future of the Postal Service, undermining confidence in the Postal Service’s future and harming its ability to build new business. The only way to protect the Postal Service and the industry that relies on it is for the House to act now, not wait until September or later. I strongly urge them to act swiftly to debate and pass a bill to preserve this American institution for generations to come.”

###