[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 14 (Tuesday, February 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H503-H504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 POST OFFICE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997 the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, oftentimes, the Federal Government is 
called to spend billions of dollars to try and repair communities after 
they fall apart. It is far better for the Federal Government and its 
agencies to lead by example, and one of the ways that we can lead by 
example is best illustrated by the impact that the United States Postal 
Service has on our communities.
  Post Offices are the heart and soul of America's small towns, drawing 
people to main streets and preserving the core of these communities. 
Despite this vital role, the Postal Service continues to move post 
offices to the outskirts of town, leaving devastated communities in 
their wake.
  This is happening across the country, not just in my community in 
Oregon. I have heard similar stories from Washington, Montana, 
Colorado, Ohio, Louisiana, New York, and everywhere in between. Small 
downtowns across the country are being stranded despite the protest of 
town residents.
  Mr. Speaker, it is absurd that the Postal Service gives its customers 
more say in which Elvis stamp to issue than where the post offices are 
located. Residents of Christianburg, Virginia, know this story all too 
well. They used to gather at a post office in the center of town to 
collect their mail and talk about the events of the day. Today, their 
main post office has moved 3 miles from downtown leaving only a small 
contact station in its wake. The gathering place for the community has 
become this window in a grocery store next to the motor oil and the 
fuel filters.
  Fortunately, Christianburg residents refused to take this affront as 
the final word. Residents of the town, supported by the city council 
and their Chamber of Commerce, fought back and finally after a 2-year 
battle, it appears as though the Postal Service has conceded that a 
``communications breakdown'' occurred and they are apparently ready to 
reverse this decision.
  Our Nation's governors know that these post office relocations are 
directly contributing to the decline of their towns and reducing the 
access of the elderly and disabled to post office services. The 
governors have now asked for our help. They have asked Congress to 
eliminate the loophole that is keeping citizens from having a voice in 
these post office relocation decisions.
  They have also asked that we require the Postal Service to comply 
with the same local zoning and building codes that apply to State and 
local governments. Governors made this request because they know 
firsthand the problems caused when the Postal Service claims immunity 
from the same laws that private citizens, businesses and local 
governments abide by.
  Mr. Speaker, I agree with the governors and have introduced H.R. 
1231, which would meet their goals. The Post Office Communities 
Partnership Act strengthens the voice of local citizens in decisions to 
relocate or rebuild postal facilities. It would give at least 60 days 
notice before renovating or relocating. It would require the Postal 
Service to consider a number of additional factors, including the 
community sentiment, the extent to which the post office is a part of a 
core downtown, and the effect a new facility may have on a community. 
And it must comply with all local zoning, planning and land use 
regulations.
  The bill is fair. It does not place unnecessary burdens on the Postal 
Service. For the first time they would be treated as a responsible 
member of the community and not above local laws.
  Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity today to 
join with my distinguished colleagues to speak about H.R. 1231, the 
Post Office Relocation Act. In particular, I want to express my 
appreciation to Representative Blumenauer for organizing this forum and 
to recognize his efforts in fashioning thoughtful legislation that 
directly responds to the postal needs and concerns of constituents in 
every community in our country.
  Regardless of where one may reside, the services that the U.S. Post 
Office provides are deeply rooted in the essence of community and by 
extension connote a sense of identity. Thus, rural and urban residents 
understandably react unfavorably when their mail delivery or local post 
office is altered in some way. A community's reaction is unduly 
compounded when they have a sense that their concerns and needs were 
not considered as part of the decision-making process.
  In just the last year, I have been approached by several communities 
in the 18th Congressional District of Pennsylvania that are faced with 
some type of difficulty regarding postal services. While the 
circumstances of these cases are quite different, the level of 
frustration they have experienced with respect to their ability to 
interject individual thoughts and opinions has been the same.
  The residents of Whitaker, Pennsylvania--in my district--have had to 
deal with having the

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operating hours of their local post office reduced to 10AM to 2PM. I 
don't care where you live, four hours of service is utterly inadequate. 
In a community nearby to Whitaker, the small, close-knit community of 
Jefferson Boro is currently being served by four different post 
offices. Can you imagine four different post offices delivering mail to 
one community of just over 3,000 households? In yet another part of my 
district, Rural Ridge has been trying to reach consensus with the U.S. 
Postal Service on what type of delivery best meets the needs of their 
community.
  While the particulars of these cases are disparate, they all point to 
the need for greater participation on the part of affected individuals 
and communities in the decisions arrived at by the U.S. Postal Service. 
The Post Office Relocation Act is responsive to this need and lays out 
a reasonable structure through which substantive discourse will occur 
and collaborative decisions will be reached.
  At the risk of being repetitive, I will not outline every provision 
of the bill. I do however, want to briefly highlight some parts that I 
think embody the common sense approach taken by Representative 
Blumenauer's legislation. As a starting point, H.R. 1231 would require 
the U.S. Postal Service to give residents a 60 day notice before the 
renovation, relocation, closing, or consolidation of their post office. 
This notice can either be hand delivered or delivered by mail. In 
addition, a notice of such action must be published in one or more 
newspapers of general circulation within the zip codes served.
  The Post Office Relocation Act does not stop with this good 
beginning, but also incorporates an allowance for any person affected 
to offer an alternative proposal and the requirement for hearings to be 
conducted. Finally, this bill revises the factors that are considered 
to include the sentiment of the community, whether postal officials 
negotiated with persons served, and the adequacy of the existing post 
office.
  The Post Office Relocation Act will most assuredly add to the great 
amount of respect that we all hold for the U.S. Postal Service. I am 
hopeful that this discussion will lead to more members adding their 
support to this bill which currently has 49 cosponsors. I also want to 
offer my strongest encouragement to the Chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Postal Service to examine this most necessary bill as soon as possible.
  Again, I want to recognize Representative Blumenauer for introducing 
H.R. 1231, the Post Office Relocation Act. I appreciate having this 
chance to express my support for the bill.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield to the gentleman 
from Maine (Mr. Baldacci).
  Mr. BALDACCI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand in support of H.R. 
1231, the Post Office Relocation Act. I am a proud cosponsor of this 
legislation and urge its passage.
  Rural areas like my district especially feel the pinch when the post 
office announces the move of a local office. Post offices in such rural 
areas are the social and information centers in the town, and are 
usually located in the heart of the business district. Downtown areas 
in rural America are often fragile and many local businesses depend on 
the foot and car traffic which post offices attract.
  One town in particular, Castine, is a small coastal town that is the 
home of the Maine Maritime Academy, faced a similar dilemma. Castine's 
post office, one of the oldest continually operating post offices in 
the country, was built in 1814 and has changed very little over time. 
Probably to the Postal Service it looks like a dilapidated, inefficient 
place to conduct business. But to the citizens of Castine, it was a 
treasured facility, an historic sight, and the heart and soul of the 
community.
  It was Castine's bicentennial year and the townspeople were faced 
with losing a part of what makes their community so unique.
  The Postal Service decided that Castine's office should be relocated 
out of the heart of downtown Castine, but the citizens had other ideas 
and many of them thought they could create the space needed to ensure 
quality mail service and they should not be shy about sharing them with 
the post office. And as a result of this outcry from the public and 
attention from national news organizations, the Postal Service 
reconsidered their proposal.
  Mr. Speaker, this is good legislation. I appreciate being able to 
support the legislation.

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