Following the U.S. Postal Service Northland District’s announcement that it will process all Duluth mail and package volume through the holiday season and beyond in its St. Paul (Eagan) facility, U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan released the following statement:
“I was encouraged by initial reports indicating the USPS had come to its senses and was set to restore some mail operations at the Duluth facility. Now, it appears the USPS is backtracking on a much-needed move towards more timely delivery. I’m concerned this could unnecessarily mean even greater delays as the busy holiday season gets closer and closer.
“We have been fighting every day for the past two years to prevent this state-of-the-art operation from closing, restore it to full operation, and keep all our hard-working postal employees on the job in Duluth, where they belong.
“I have made our case directly to two postmasters general and to the chief operating officer of the U.S. Postal Service, urging them to reverse the terribly ill-considered decision to move processing to the Twin Cities. They’ve gotten this message not only from me, but also from customers all over the Northland who have complained that since the Duluth facility has been scaled back, one-day service has become four- and five-day service.”
Earlier this year, Nolan cosponsored and has championed bipartisan legislation in the House (H. Res. 54) to require the Postal Service to return to mail delivery standards of 2012, including overnight delivery.
Nolan is also working to fix the 2006 law that requires the Postal Service to funnel more than $5 billion a year into pre-paid retiree health benefits. The fund now enjoys a surplus of more than $50 billion, and most analysts believe relief from that annual obligation would go a long way toward returning the Postal Service to profitability.
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