Washington, DC - Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) released the following statement after the US Postal Service announced today that it was delaying the closure of any post offices or mail processing facilities until at least May 18th, 2012:
"Without question, the Postal Service needs to change to survive. But it shouldn't build its recovery on the backs of small town Americans by closing thousands of rural post offices.
"Delaying the closure of post offices for six months will allow for additional time to review the economic impact these closures have on Iowa towns, especially their impact on jobs. This is the right move to ensure we're not pulling the rug out from small towns that depend on their post offices."
The Postal Service news release announcing the delay can be found at the following link: http://bit.ly/sKwPeS
For months, Braley has pressed for answers from the Postal Service on the impact of proposed closures of 178 Iowa post offices on local jobs and local economies.
In October, Braley successfully passed a bipartisan amendment to the Postal Reform Act that would require the Postal Service to report on the number of jobs that would be lost by proposed post office closures.
In July and again in September, Braley wrote Postmaster General Patrick Donohue to request figures on the projected impact of proposed closures of Iowa post offices and mail processing facilities on local jobs.
# # #
