Sen. Carper Launches New Facebook Timeline to Highlight U.S. House’s Failure to Deliver Postal Reform

WASHINGTON – Today, as postal losses surpassed $1 billion since the U.S. Senate passed its bipartisan bill to reform the U.S. Postal Service, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), co-author of the 21st Century Postal Service Act and chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees the Postal Service, launched a new Facebook page – “Priority Fail” – to trace the timeline of the House of Representatives’ failure to act on comprehensive postal reform legislation.

“The U.S. Postal Service has now racked up $1 billion in losses in the time that the House has sat on its hands and failed to take up our Senate bill – or its own bill – to reform the Postal Service,” said Sen. Carper. “The longer the House delays action, the more consumers and businesses become uncertain about the future of the Postal Service. To protect a mailing industry that employs over 8 million people and generates almost $1 trillion in economic activity each year, we need Congressional action – and the ball is in the House’s court. My new Facebook page calls attention to my House colleagues’ failure to deliver postal reform thus far and – hopefully – encourages them to act swiftly to debate and pass a bill to preserve this American institution for generations to come.”

Although the Postal Reform Act of 2011 was passed out of the relevant House committee in October 2011, leaders in the House have yet to schedule a vote on the bill. In fact, in a memo to House Republicans on May 25, 2012, Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced that the House may not even begin to debate a postal bill until sometime after Independence Day in July – failing to guarantee that a House vote on postal reform legislation would actually occur.

The Senate, however, has passed the bipartisan 21st Century Postal Service Act, co-authored by Sens. Carper, Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Scott Brown (R-Mass.). This legislation gives the Postal Service the flexibility and resources it needs to right-size, modernize, and remain competitive in the 21st Century.

As the House continues to delay action on postal reform legislation, you can follow the Postal Service’s record losses on Sen. Carper’s website here.

Join the conversation about the House’s failure to deliver a postal reform bill with @SenatorCarper on Twitter using the hashtag #PriorityFail.