Al Franken: “I rise today to talk about the importance of the Postal Service to Minnesota and to urge my colleagues to make…”

“I rise today to talk about the importance of the Postal Service to Minnesota and to urge my colleagues to make thoughtful changes to strengthen S. 1789. The Postal Service has proposed a cost-cutting plan that would close or consolidate nearly 3,700 mostly rural post offices. This plan will eliminate thousands of jobs in communities across the country and will leave many residents and businesses without direct access to the Postal Service. Of course, that includes Oregon, the Presiding Officer's State. In Minnesota, 117 post offices are on the closure list. That includes the post office in Calumet, MN, a town of 367 people in northeastern Minnesota. I have heard from the mayor of Calumet, John Tourila, about the hardship that closing the post office would have on his community. He told me about disabled residents who can't get a driver's license and how important it is that they are able to walk to the post office. He also told me about an elderly couple in the town. The husband has Alzheimer's, and he and his wife take a walk every day, hand in hand, to the post office. When the Postal Service held a public meeting in Calumet to discuss the proposed post office closure, over 70 residents showed up. That is a lot. That is about one-fifth of the town. These are the stories I hear when I travel across Minnesota, especially in rural Minnesota. Post offices are the center of so many communities. They serve as the gathering place and a source of information.…”