King: Study will reveal Postal Service's flawed process
Posted: Tuesday, June 26, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressman Steve King Monday urged the U.S. Postal Service to carefully consider a forthcoming study on the Area Mail Processing process.
The AMP process is used by the Postal Service to identify mail processing centers across the country, like the one in Sioux City, for possible consolidation, a press release issued by King explained.
King, the Postal Service, the Siouxland community and Iowa's senators have been involved in a long process of review and discussion to clarify the question of whether to maintain or close the Sioux City center.
"Some believe that study after study equals action. Well, the Government Accountability Office spent the last year and half studying the Postal Service evaluation process and I expect that they'll tell us exactly what we knew when all this started a year and a half ago. In their upcoming report, they will almost certainly tell us that the USPS process of evaluating its operations and finding opportunities for consolidation is flawed," said King.
The GAO office, the investigative arm of Congress, is set to issue a report next month on the process used by the Postal Service to identify possible consolidation opportunities within its mail processing system. The potential departure of Sioux City's mail processing center to Sioux Falls could increase costs for local businesses and cause delays to mail delivery throughout the Siouxland, the release issued by King stated.
"I promote the streamlining of government services wherever they can be more efficient. But nothing from the Postal Service has absolutely demonstrated that closing the Sioux City center would make postal operations more efficient while maintaining the level of mail service that the residents and businesses of the Siouxland have come to rely upon," King stated.
"Hounding them has pushed the Postal Service to seek more stakeholder input and many from Siouxland have offered numerous recommendations. Soon we'll have feedback from the GAO as well. I look forward to working with the Postal Service as it works to apply the findings of this upcoming report to its decision-making process regarding the mail processing center in Sioux City." King concluded.
The AMP process is used by the Postal Service to identify mail processing centers across the country, like the one in Sioux City, for possible consolidation, a press release issued by King explained.
King, the Postal Service, the Siouxland community and Iowa's senators have been involved in a long process of review and discussion to clarify the question of whether to maintain or close the Sioux City center.
"Some believe that study after study equals action. Well, the Government Accountability Office spent the last year and half studying the Postal Service evaluation process and I expect that they'll tell us exactly what we knew when all this started a year and a half ago. In their upcoming report, they will almost certainly tell us that the USPS process of evaluating its operations and finding opportunities for consolidation is flawed," said King.
The GAO office, the investigative arm of Congress, is set to issue a report next month on the process used by the Postal Service to identify possible consolidation opportunities within its mail processing system. The potential departure of Sioux City's mail processing center to Sioux Falls could increase costs for local businesses and cause delays to mail delivery throughout the Siouxland, the release issued by King stated.
"I promote the streamlining of government services wherever they can be more efficient. But nothing from the Postal Service has absolutely demonstrated that closing the Sioux City center would make postal operations more efficient while maintaining the level of mail service that the residents and businesses of the Siouxland have come to rely upon," King stated.
"Hounding them has pushed the Postal Service to seek more stakeholder input and many from Siouxland have offered numerous recommendations. Soon we'll have feedback from the GAO as well. I look forward to working with the Postal Service as it works to apply the findings of this upcoming report to its decision-making process regarding the mail processing center in Sioux City." King concluded.
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Postalscribbles wrote on Jun 26, 2007 6:00 PM: