Tester to Postal Service: Stop digging a deeper hole

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said the U.S. Postal Service should stop closing facilities to cut costs.

“They think they can cut their way to fiscal solvency and quite frankly they’re wrong,” Tester said on the Senate floor Thursday. “What the Postal Services does need is responsible postal reform legislation.”

{mosads}Tester said the closing of mail processing facilities and offices disproportionately harms rural America. Some closures are expected at the start of next year. The agency has also proposed ending overnight delivery.

Tester said those decisions will make the Postal Service less competitive against private companies.

“There are a lot of people in Congress who would like to see the Postal Service go out of business,” Tester said. “[But] it is a critical part of our daily lives.”

He said there is no reason for the Postal Service to “keep digging the hole,” when Congress could pass a bill that would end the agency’s expensive requirement to pay 75 years of future retiree health benefits within 10 years. 

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) joined Tester on the Senate floor. All three of their states expect to have facilities closed.

— This article was updated at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 5.