DeLauro Introduces Legislation to Protect Overnight Delivery Standards

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), joined by63 of her colleagues, today introduced the Protect Overnight Delivery Act.The bipartisan legislation would protect overnight postal delivery bypreventing the Postal Service from weakening delivery standards. Moving fromovernight to two or three day delivery standards will not only slow maildelivery, it will result in 508 closed processing facilities and an estimated30,000 jobs lost.

"Againand again,members of Congress have asked the Postal Service not to unilaterally eliminateovernight delivery. The Postmaster General should not pre-empt Congressionalaction and, in the absence of a comprehensive bill, Congress should moveforward with this legislation.

"Ending overnight delivery standards--and the subsequent consolidationof processing facilitates--will have a disastrous impact on unemployment. Withunemployment high, this is a particularly bad time for the Postal Service toeliminate jobs.

"Our postal workers do an extraordinary service for thecommunity and should be treated with the respect and gratitude they haveearned."

The postal processing facility in Wallingford, Connecticutis among those that face closure due to the elimination of overnight deliverystandards. Over 500,000 people are employed by the Postal Service in the UnitedStates, more than McDonalds, Wal-Mart and Starbucks combined.

DeLauro is also a cosponsor of the Postal ServiceProtection Act of 2013, which would remove the retiree benefits pre-fundingburden from the Postal Service and transfer the billions in overcharges back toit.