Senator to U.S. Postal Service, Congressional colleagues: post offices are ‘part of the identity of rural America
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today co-hosted a bipartisan roundtable discussion on rural postal issues in the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to raise awareness about the numerous challenges facing rural post offices and to urge action on the part of both the U.S. Postal Service and her Congressional colleagues.
“Rural post offices are part of the identity of rural America,” said McCaskill who was born in Rolla, Mo. and raised in Lebanon, Mo. “The obligation for the Postal Service to provide universal service to the American people doesn’t just apply to Americans in big cities and urban centers—it applies everywhere.”
McCaskill, who is a senior member of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has led the charge to preserve rural post offices, preserve postal delivery standards, and enact urgently needed reforms to the Postal Service.
During a recent roundtable on postal service in the digital age, McCaskill highlighted the need for the U.S. Postal Service to adapt to changes in technology in a way that takes into account smaller cities, towns and rural communities. In April, McCaskill sent a letter to the Senate’s Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee—which has jurisdiction over certain aspects of Postal Service financing—outlining a one-year moratorium on postal closings that would enable Congress to enact comprehensive postal reform, allowing the Postal Service to save jobs and continue to run efficiently in rural areas.
McCaskill also met today with the President and Vice President of the Missouri Rural Letter Carriers to discuss their joint efforts to maintain delivery standards and combat the effects of mail processing facility closures.
Click HERE for a photos of today’s roundtable and HERE for photos of today’s meeting.
Visit mccaskill.senate.gov/rural to learn more about McCaskill’s fight to protect rural Missouri.