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U.S. Rep. McSally Leads Bipartisan Effort to Call for Updated Postal Plan

TUCSON – U.S. Representative Martha McSally today led a bipartisan group of 33 lawmakers to inquire about the United States Postal Service’s progress on revisiting plans to potentially consolidate mail processing centers around the country, including the Cherrybell Postal Processing Center in Tucson. Rep. McSally has led ongoing advocacy efforts for the continued operation of Cherrybell.

“Our constituents, many of whom are seniors, veterans, active voters and small business owners, depend upon reliable, timely service, whether it be traditional mail services or package delivery,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Postmaster General Megan Brennan. “As such, we find these closures and consolidations and the slowed mail delivery times that accompany them to be of great concern.”

In the letter, the lawmakers highlight language contained in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 that encourages the Postal Service to update the feasibility studies used to propose consolidating processing centers around the country. The legislation containing that language was signed into law on December 18, 2015.

“More concerning is the fact that the Postal Service did not fully engage communities about the impacts of these changes and the USPS Office of Inspector General found that portions of the Area Mail Processing (AMP) feasibility studies were incomplete for Phase 2 of NRI,” the lawmakers continued. “We were extremely pleased to see the inclusion of this report language and request an update on what steps USPS has taken to carry out the Congressional direction included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016.”

Last year, Rep. McSally participated in a roundtable with Councilmember Richard Fimbres and local leaders to coordinate local and federal efforts in support of the Cherrybell Facility’s continued operation. Rep. McSally also toured the Cherrybell Processing Facility and led a bipartisan effort by members of the Arizona delegation to call on Postmaster General Megan Brennan to revisit decisions that would consolidate operations at the Cherrybell Facility and see the facility’s impacts first-hand.

A key concern is the impact the shuttering of Cherrybell could have on local elections, as an increasing number of voters are making use of mail-in ballots. In a Dec. 9 letter to Rep. McSally, Pima County’s Recorder expressed concern that the possible closure of Cherrybell could potentially disenfranchise voters because of the delay in processing ballots. “My office alone will be mailing more than 1 million ballots in 2016 and we can expect several hundred thousand of those ballots to be voted and returned by mail,” wrote F. Ann Rodriguez. “The speed at which the postal service processes the ballots is often critical in giving the voters the opportunity to participate in elections.”

In Washington, D.C., Rep. McSally has met with the Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman and the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations, which handles postal issues in the House, to stress the importance of the Cherrybell facility to Southern Arizonans.

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