Sen. Carper Responds to Postal Reform Proposals in the President’s 2012 Budget

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate subcommittee overseeing the U.S. Postal Service, released the following statement responding to postal reform measures in President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal:

“I welcome the Administration’s engagement in the effort to stabilize the Postal Service’s precarious financial situation. The President’s proposal to reduce the Postal Service’s retiree health care payment due this year and to refund, over a period of time, nearly 7 billion dollars in over payments to the Federal Employees Retirement System, is an important first step. However, more clearly needs to be done in order to address the Postal Service’s long term fiscal problems. We need to address the Postal Service’s massive overpayments to the older Civil Service Retirement System. We also need to make sure that the Postal Service has the resources it needs to meet its future retiree health care obligations. Putting the Postal Service back on stronger financial footing is something I’ve been trying to do for a long time now, and I plan to reintroduce comprehensive postal reform to enact these necessary changes. I hope my colleagues and the Administration will join me in pushing for this much needed reform so we can prevent the Postal Service from going broke by the end of the year.”