Washington, DC – Ruth Y. Goldway, Chairman of the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), is being honored by Consumer Action, an organization that advocates for underrepresented consumers across the country, for her contributions to the protection of postal consumers. Chairman Goldway will receive the 2012 Consumer Excellence Award on October 2, 2012, at the Capital Hyatt Regency in Washington, D.C.

“Consumer Action has seen first-hand Chairman Goldway’s advocacy and leadership in an environment of unprecedented change and challenges for the U.S. postal community,” said Ken McEldowney, Executive Director of Consumer Action. “From Chairman Goldway’s key role in the Postal Service’s adoption of the Forever Stamp, which ensures that stamp buyers can use existing stocks even when rates rise, to her continued attention to the disparate impacts of postal policy on first-class stamp buyers and low-income, elderly and rural postal clients, the Chairman has more than earned the badge of a dedicated consumer advocate.”

“I am honored to be recognized by Consumer Action. The Organization encouraged me in my career when I was advocating for improved food labeling in the 1970s. Now on the Commission I work to assure that the Postal Service, which is a vital, essential national communications network, continues to provide easily accessible quality services especially to those who cannot rely on new technology,” said Chairman Goldway.

Ruth Goldway was designated Chairman of the PRC by President Barack Obama on August 6, 2009. She was first appointed by President Clinton in April, 1998 to the predecessor agency, the Postal Rate Commission, and twice reappointed by President George W. Bush, most recently in 2008 to serve a third term ending in November 2014. She is the longest serving, full-time, Senate-confirmed Presidential appointee within the Executive Branch of the United States Government.

Chairman Goldway has presided over the Commission during a time marked by a record caseload and the implementation of new postal laws and regulations. Under her tenure, the Commission has issued a number of major decisions including the first Exigency Rate Case, the first Non-Compliance Determination in an annual review, and complex Advisory Opinions on Post Office Station and Branch Closings, on Five Day Mail Delivery and on delivery and service standard changes. She has made transparency a priority, establishing a series of monthly Commission public meetings, which are webcast live, and the publication of a quarterly report on rate and service inquiries.

A copy of Chairman Goldway’s biography may be found on the PRC website at: Ruth Y. Goldway bio.