August 6, 2014
Dear Mr. Zelznick,

Thank you for contacting me about the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). I appreciate hearing from you.

I value knowing your views about reforms at USPS. As you may know, during the 112th Congress, the Senate considered postal reform when it debated the 21st Century Postal Service Act (S. 1789). On April 25, 2012, the Senate passed this bill by a vote of 62-37. Instead of providing USPS the freedom and flexibility it needs to implement true structural reform, this legislation unfortunately would have created a more regulated postal service and imposed new requirements on USPS that would have undermined its sustainability over the long term. Further, this legislation would have unnecessarily added to our nation’s deficit at a time when we need to be carefully examining every area of our nation’s spending. I therefore could not support this legislation, which failed to become law due to disagreements between the House and Senate.

Specific to your concerns, the Post Office has announced it will resume consolidating and closing mail processing facilities in January 2015. I understand your concerns about the closures of these plants. Although I believe it is important that USPS be preserved, we must do so in a fiscally responsible way that allows it to truly thrive moving forward and not be a burden on taxpayers. I therefore look forward to advancing reforms at USPS that will put it on stable financial footing.

Thank you again for your correspondence. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of assistance.

Sincerely,

Pat Toomey
U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania