Graves calls for Congress to save 6-day mail

Sep 15, 2011

WASHINGTON—The ending of Saturday mail delivery remains a high priority for the U.S. Postal Service, despite a negative report from the Postal Regulatory Commission questioning five-day mail service.

But many members of Congress are not ready to give the mail a Saturday vacation. A resolution introduced by Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo, calling for a sense of Congress that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of six-day mail service now has 107 co-sponsors.

National Newspaper Association President Elizabeth K. Parker, co-publisher of Recorder Community Newspapers, Stirling, NJ, now urges community newspaper publishers to recruit more sponsors to support Graves.

NNA has been on record in favor of six-day mail for many years, Parker said.

“We now know, thanks to the PRC, that ending Saturday delivery may become a huge pothole for the Postal Service, not just for newspapers. It will slow the delivery of First Class Mail, encourage new competitors for USPS and deliver an economic blow to rural America that tends to be more mail-dependent,” she said. “When you add this new wave of concern to the belief we already have that most newspapers need Saturday service to some degree or another, you have to believe the Postal Service should rethink its proposal.”

NNA Postal Committee Chair Max Heath said that service breakdowns in Periodicals delivery are already being reported to NNA, even with Saturday mail in place.

“This is a Postal Service that badly needs to demonstrate good faith with its customers. Serious though its finances are, it has other options for financial relief that we do support and are helping to achieve. If we lose Saturday mail, our current service problems are going to worsen dramatically, and people will leave the mails for electronic delivery much more quickly.”

The requirement for six-day mail service has been re-enacted annually by Congress since 1983. Although the oversight committees in Congress that are deliberating over USPS’s financial woes have not spoken formally on the five-day proposal since former Postmaster General Jack Potter raised it in 2009, the appropriations committees on both sides of Capitol Hill have cemented the requirement in funding bills despite the Postal Service’s objection.

Now Graves’ office says he is all the more determined to show that Congress cares about a viable six-day mail service. He believes a strong resolution, though non-binding, will help convince Congress to hold the line, and look at other financial fixes for the ailing service.

NNA will recruit new sponsors during its 50th Annual Government Affairs Conference, July 20-22, 2011, in Washington.

To see a complete list of the Representatives who have signed onto the bill, go to www.nnaweb.org.

Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] - 4/13/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Altmire, Jason [PA-4] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Andrews, Robert E. [NJ-1] - 4/4/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Baca, Joe [CA-43] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Bass, Karen [CA-33] - 3/16/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] - 3/10/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28] - 3/15/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Bishop, Timothy H. [NY-1] - 3/10/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Blumenauer, Earl [OR-3] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Boren, Dan [OK-2] - 3/17/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Boswell, Leonard L. [IA-3] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Brady, Robert A. [PA-1] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Braley, Bruce L. [IA-1] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Brown, Corrine [FL-3] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Calvert, Ken [CA-44] - 3/17/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] - 3/31/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Capuano, Michael E. [MA-8] - 4/15/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Cardoza, Dennis A. [CA-18] - 3/16/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Cleaver, Emanuel [MO-5] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Costa, Jim [CA-20] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Costello, Jerry F. [IL-12] - 4/1/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Critz, Mark S. [PA-12] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Crowley, Joseph [NY-7] - 4/14/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Davis, Susan A. [CA-53] - 3/10/2011 âï¿½¨Rep DeFazio, Peter A. [OR-4] - 3/16/2011 âï¿½¨Rep DeLauro, Rosa L. [CT-3] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Deutch, Theodore E. [FL-19] - 3/10/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Diaz-Balart, Mario [FL-21] - 4/8/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Doggett, Lloyd [TX-25] - 3/17/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Donnelly, Joe [IN-2] - 4/8/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Emerson, Jo Ann [MO-8] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Engel, Eliot L. [NY-17] - 4/4/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Eshoo, Anna G. [CA-14] - 3/16/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Farr, Sam [CA-17] - 3/17/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 3/14/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Frank, Barney [MA-4] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Gallegly, Elton [CA-24] - 3/30/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Garamendi, John [CA-10] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Guthrie, Brett [KY-2] - 4/12/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Hanabusa, Colleen W. [HI-1] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Hastings, Alcee L. [FL-23] - 3/11/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Higgins, Brian [NY-27] - 3/17/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22] - 3/14/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Hirono, Mazie K. [HI-2] - 3/16/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Holden, Tim [PA-17] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Holt, Rush D. [NJ-12] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Inslee, Jay [WA-1] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Israel, Steve [NY-2] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Jackson, Jesse L., Jr.[IL-2] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. [NC-3] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Kildee, Dale E. [MI-5] - 4/14/2011 âï¿½¨Rep King, Peter T. [NY-3] - 3/11/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Kissell, Larry [NC-8] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Langevin, James R. [RI-2] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Latham, Tom [IA-4] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9] - 3/15/2011 âï¿½¨Rep LoBiondo, Frank A. [NJ-2] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Lofgren, Zoe [CA-16] - 3/16/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Lucas, Frank D. [OK-3] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Luetkemeyer, Blaine [MO-9] - 3/16/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] - 3/10/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Matsui, Doris O. [CA-5] - 3/15/2011 âï¿½¨Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] - 3/10/2011 âï¿½¨Rep McDermott, Jim [WA-7] - 3/15/2011 âï¿½¨Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep McIntyre, Mike [NC-7] - 4/7/2011 âï¿½¨Rep McNerney, Jerry [CA-11] - 3/17/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Michaud, Michael H. [ME-2] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Moore, Gwen [WI-4] - 3/30/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Murphy, Tim[PA-18] - 3/30/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] - 4/12/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Owens, William L. [NY-23] - 4/8/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Pallone, Frank, Jr. [NJ-6] - 3/31/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Peters, Gary C. [MI-9] - 4/8/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Peterson, Collin C. [MN-7] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Platts, Todd Russell [PA-19] - 4/7/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Price, David E. [NC-4] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Quigley, Mike[IL-5] - 4/4/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Rehberg, Denny [MT] - 3/30/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Richardson, Laura [CA-37] - 3/15/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Roe, David P. [TN-1] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Ross, Mike [AR-4] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9] - 4/4/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Ryan, Tim [OH-17] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Sanchez, Loretta [CA-47] - 3/16/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Schiff, Adam B. [CA-29] - 3/16/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Schrader, Kurt [OR-5] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Sewell, Terri A. [AL-7] - 3/17/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Sherman, Brad [CA-27] - 3/17/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Sires, Albio [NJ-13] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Slaughter, Louise McIntosh [NY-28] - 4/13/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Speier, Jackie [CA-12] - 4/12/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [CA-13] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Sutton, Betty [OH-13] - 4/1/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Thompson, Bennie G. [MS-2] - 4/6/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Tierney, John F. [MA-6] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Tonko, Paul [NY-21] - 4/4/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Visclosky, Peter J. [IN-1] - 3/30/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Walz, Timothy J. [MN-1] - 4/4/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [FL-20] - 3/16/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Welch, Peter [VT] - 3/14/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6] - 3/15/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Wu, David [OR-1] - 3/29/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Yarmuth, John A. [KY-3] - 4/14/2011 âï¿½¨Rep Young, Don [AK] - 3/16/2011