On the recordApril 24, 2012
I rise on behalf of amendment No. 2047, which I have cosponsored with Senator Blunt. I deeply appreciate his leadership. This bipartisan amendment would allow for a nonpaid advocate to represent communities facing a closure or a consolidation. Advocates would represent their communities' interests throughout closure proceedings and would work with the Postal Service to identify alternative methods to maintain service standards. Advocates would have access to documents, data, and reports related to the proposed closure. Advocates would also have authority to appeal a final decision on closure to the Postal Regulatory Commission if there was a concern it would hurt service standards. Finally, the amendment would allow the strategic commission already contained within this bill to develop interagency agreements so that post offices could provide additional government services, such as the issuance of Social Security cards and hunting and fishing licenses, similar to what it already does for passports. In 2011, to take 1 year, the Postal Service accepted 5.6 million passport applications that generated $182 million in revenue. This amendment has the potential to cut government costs, improve access, and help keep post offices open by supplementing revenue streams in a way that is particularly helpful to our rural communities. I hope the Senate could adopt this amendment. I yield to my colleague Senator Blunt and thank him for his work.
