WASHINGTON – Today, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement in response to a new postal reform proposal, produced by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.):
“The Postal Service, and many of us in Congress, have made it clear again and again that the path this American institution is currently on is not sustainable. The challenges our economy has faced in recent years – coupled with the continued migration to electronic forms of communication – is putting the future of the Postal Service in jeopardy, and it’s happening faster than anyone ever expected even just a few years ago. The hard truth is our nation is likely closer than we have ever been to losing the Postal Service and the industry and millions of jobs that it supports. That’s why it is imperative that Congress and the President come together around a set of meaningful reforms soon. I appreciate Chairman Issa’s efforts to move forward with a proposal to address this imminent threat to the Postal Service. As chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, Postal Service leadership, and other stakeholders to build consensus around a package of reforms that can update the Postal Service’s network and business model to reflect the reality that it faces today. While we differ in our approach in some areas, Chairman Issa and I, and the rest of our colleagues, are united in our effort to restore the Postal Service to solvency and give it the tools it needs to thrive in the years to come. It remains my goal to come up with a bipartisan, bicameral postal reform bill in the coming weeks.”