Postal Service delaying closures

Earlier this month I joined 37 of my colleagues, led by Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee), in objecting to the Postal Service's plan to reduce costs by closing more than half of its mail processing centers nationwide. This week, the Postal Service announced its decision to postpone these closures until May 2012. In the meantime, the agency will continue its review of facilities and holding public meetings on the closures. I understand the need to put the Postal Service on a sound fiscal footing, but we have to preserve service for the Marianas. First class mail, which already takes 7 to 10 days to reach the Marianas from the mainland, would be slowed even more. The impact on Rota and Tinian, which relies heavily on the U.S. Postal Service for shipping packages, would have been even greater. The delay is welcome news, and will allow additional time to work with the Postal Service to reduce potential impact on service to the Marianas.