One Month after Senate Action, Sen. Carper Calls Attention to Deeper Postal Service Losses while House Delays

WASHINGTON – One month after the U.S. Senate passed its comprehensive, 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, called additional attention to the Postal Service’s record losses while the U.S. House of Representatives delays further action on a postal reform bill.

Today in the House, Republican Leader Eric Cantor announced in a memo to House Republicans that his intention is to delay any decision on bringing postal reform legislation to the House floor until after Independence Day in July. Between now and July 4, the Postal Service will lose an additional $1 billion, exacerbating the financial crisis the service faces ahead of two expensive payments to the U.S. Treasury this fall.

“The U.S. Postal Service is hemorrhaging money at a historic pace, and Congress can’t stand idly by and allow it to continue to creep towards total financial collapse,” said Sen. Carper. “The longer the House delays action, the more losses the Postal Service racks up – losses that continue to threaten a mailing industry that employs over 8 million people and generates almost $1 trillion in economic activity each year. It is irresponsible to further postpone action – creating more uncertainty, undermining confidence in the Postal Service’s future, and harming its ability to build new business. Today’s memo to the House majority raises more questions about the House’s intentions because it doesn’t even guarantee that the bill will get a vote. The House should act to debate and pass a bill as soon as possible.”

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. 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 delays action on postal reform legislation, you can follow the Postal Service’s record losses on Sen. Carper’s website here.

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