[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 141 (Friday, October 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S12145]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RELOCATION OF LOCAL POST OFFICES

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I want to talk about something very 
simple. It is about post offices and particularly small town or 
community post offices. Our first Postmaster General was Benjamin 
Franklin, 200 years ago. And, obviously, at that time post offices were 
very important to Americans. It was a local gathering place; it was a 
meeting place, in addition to sending and receiving mail. And the same 
is true today in small town America, in some of our smaller communities 
and even some of our larger communities.
  For example, in my State of Montana, let's take Livingston, the post 
office is where people meet to compare notes, talk about what the fly 
hatch is on the Yellowstone so they will know what to go fishing with. 
And maybe Red Lodge, MT--collect the mail and talk about what happened 
at the most recent track meet. The same is true in Plains, MT, a post 
office that has been there for 115 years.
  The problem is this: The Postal Service recently, in my judgment, has 
not treated communities fairly because it has come in and closed local 
post offices and often rebuilt them outside of town to essentially 
destroy the local character of the community.
  Senator Jeffords and I offered an amendment on the Treasury-Postal 
appropriations bill. It passed the Senate by a vote of 76 to 21. A 
similar version passed the House. Essentially, we are just providing 
for notice so that local communities, when the Postal Service decides 
to come in and close a post office or move it, would have a chance to 
have a hearing, would have an opportunity to have notice, would have an 
opportunity to have some say in their community.
  Today, under Postal Service regulations, local people don't have a 
say. They don't have the ability to influence, in any meaningful way, 
where their post office is located or whether it should be closed.
  I think that is wrong. I regret saying this, but the conferees on the 
bill stripped our amendment, even though it passed the Senate 76 to 21, 
and even though it had very large support in the House.
  That is just not right. It is not fair. It is not fair to those folks 
in communities who very much rely on their post office. We are just 
asking for a fair process so the local people have the opportunity to 
have some say in their community so that Uncle Sam, Uncle Postal 
Service, doesn't ram down their throats a solution that doesn't make 
sense. I regret to say the conferees did not include it, and next year 
I will reintroduce the legislation, I am sure, along with Senator 
Jeffords. That provision, unfortunately, is not in the bill.
  Again, I thank my good friend from Utah, and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.

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