[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 4018-4019]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            INTENT TO OBJECT

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I intend to object to proceeding to 
the 21st Century Postal Service Act, a bill to improve, sustain, and 
transform the United States Postal Service, dated March 22, 2012.
  I ask unanimous consent that a letter of March 20, 2012, sent by 
myself to Majority Leader Reid, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                      U.S. Senate,


                                               Washington, DC,

                                                   March 20, 2012.
     Hon. Harry Reid,
     Majority Leader, U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Reid: I write to notify you that I am putting 
     a hold on S. 1789, the Postal Reform bill, dated March 20, 
     2012. I will submit a copy of this notice to the Legislative 
     Clerk and the Congressional Record within 2 session days and 
     I give my permission to the objecting Senator to object in my 
     name.
       While I absolutely agree that the United States Postal 
     Service (USPS) must be reformed to meet the country's needs 
     in the 21st Century, I must object to moving forward on 
     consideration of this legislation while the USPS continues a 
     rushed study to close a needed mail processing center on the 
     Eastern Shore of Maryland. Making matters worse, USPS plans 
     no public hearings and no opportunity for written comment in 
     this study process. This is totally unacceptable.
       The half a million residents who live on the Eastern Shore 
     and rely on the mail service must have a voice in this 
     process. These residents include farmers, small businesses 
     and a significant rural and elderly population that relies 
     heavily on mail delivery for life saving medications, daily 
     newspapers, and important business documents.
       The Easton area mail processing center is the only mail 
     processing center on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and its 
     ongoing operation is critically important to the economy of 
     the shore. Relaxing delivery standards by moving mail 
     processing from Easton to Delaware is simply not a practical 
     or sustainable option.
       My constituents have a right to be heard, they have a right 
     to maintain the standard of delivery service that they 
     currently receive, and they deserve a fair and transparent 
     process for decisions about the Easton area mail processing 
     center.
       I'm grateful for your leadership, and I look forward to 
     working with you to ensure that the Postal Service remains 
     financially solvent and ready for the 21st Century. But I 
     must object to consideration of S. 1789 while this issue 
     remains outstanding and I grant permission for you (or your 
     designee) to object in my name.
           Sincerely,
                                              Barbara A. Mikulski,
                                            United States Senator.

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