On the recordFebruary 15, 2011
I rise today to introduce The U.S. Postal Service Improvements Act of 2011. This legislation would help the U.S. Postal Service regain its financial footing as it adapts to the era of increasingly digital communications. The storied history of the Postal Service pre-dates our Constitution. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General and directed the creation of ``a line of posts . . . from Falmouth in New England to Savannah in Georgia.'' The Constitution also gives Congress the power to establish post offices and post roads. Today, the Postal Service is the linchpin of a $1 trillion mailing industry that employs approximately 7.5 million Americans in fields as diverse as direct mail, printing, catalog companies, paper manufacturing, and financial services. Postal Service employees deliver mail six days a week to hundreds of millions of households and businesses. From our largest cities to our smallest towns, from the Hawaiian Islands to Alaskan reservations, the Postal Service is a vital part of our national communications network and an icon of American culture. But the financial state of the Postal Service is abysmal. The numbers are grim: the Postal Service lost $8.5 billion in fiscal year 2010 and recently announced that it posted a net loss of $329 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2011 alone.
