APWU Condemns GOP Plan to Loot USPS to Save Highway Fund

APWU President Mark Dimondstein issued a statement June 2 condemning a proposal by House Republican leaders to raid the Postal Service treasury to shore up the Highway Trust Fund. The statement appears below:

“The proposal by House Republican leaders to use Postal Service funds to help replenish the Highway Trust Fund is outrageous. It is another irresponsible attempt by House Republicans to loot the USPS and undermine postal service by eliminating Saturday mail delivery.

“The U.S. Postal Service isn’t funded by taxpayers. Its revenue comes from the sale of postage and services, so there is absolutely no justification for Congress to grab USPS funds for any federal project – even one as important as the Highway Trust Fund.

“Furthermore, the proposal is based on a fiction: It assumes there will be 'real savings for the Treasury' from a hypothetical future event – a postal bailout – that no one is calling for or has proposed. Projected savings from the elimination of Saturday mail delivery are also highly questionable.

“The money grab and the elimination of Saturday mail delivery would be major steps toward dismantling the public Postal Service, which is based in the Constitution and provides universal, uniform mail service to every city and town in the nation.

“House leaders can’t have it both ways: If the Postal Service is strong enough financially to be able to fund other federal projects then it can’t also be in dire financial straits that justify eliminating Saturday delivery, lowering service standards, shutting mail processing facilities, and closing post offices.”

The four postal unions expressed their opposition to using the Postal Service as an offset to fund the nation's transportation infrastructure in letters dated June 2 to the House and Senate.