Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) cosponsored a bipartisan resolution led by Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) that would make clear Congress’ opposition to privatizing the United States Postal Service (USPS).
“The United States Postal Service – the highest rated government agency in the country – has been integral to connecting rural and urban communities, and serving the needs of hundreds of thousands of businesses,” said Cortez Masto. “Any plan to privatize the USPS will only hurt postal employees who are dedicated public servants, subject communities to unreliable and potentially costly alternatives, and diminish access to postal services, especially for Americans living in rural communities.”
A copy of the resolution can be found HERE and below:
Expressing the sense of the Senate that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization.
Whereas Congress has the authority to establish post offices and post roads under clause 7 of section 8 of article I of the Constitution of the United States;
Whereas the United States Postal Service is a self-sustaining, independent establishment that relies on revenue derived from the sale of postal services and products, not on taxpayer funds;
Whereas the United States Postal Service and the more than 500,000 employees of the United States Postal Service are at the center of the $1,400,000,000,000 mailing industry, which employs a total of 7,500,000 individuals in the United States;
Whereas the United States Postal Service serves the needs of 157,000,000 business and residential customers not less than 6 days a week, maintains an affordable and universal network, and connects the rural, suburban, and urban communities of the United States;
Whereas the United States Postal Service is consistently the highest-rated agency of the Federal Government in nonpartisan opinion polls;
Whereas the United States Postal Service is the second largest employer of veterans in the United States;
Whereas the employees of the United States Postal Service—
(1) are dedicated public servants who do more than process and deliver the mail of the people of the United States; and
(2) serve as the eyes and ears of the communities of the United States and often respond first in situations involving health, safety, and crime in those communities; and
Whereas the privatization of the United States Postal Service would—
(1) result in higher prices and reduced services for the customers of the United States Postal Service, especially in rural communities;
(2) jeopardize the booming e-commerce sector; and
(3) cripple a major part of the critical infrastructure of the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization in whole or in part.
###