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Floor Speech

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Mr. MORAN. Madam President, as the Senate process on the Postal Service Reform Act is underway, I want to rise today to highlight the daily impact the U.S. Postal Service has on folks back home, particularly in rural Kansas.

Many Americans rely upon the U.S. Postal Service. When a special occasion arises, they will send a card to a loved one. And while receiving a letter or a card, a gift in the mail--instead of a text message or email these days--brings lots of people lots of joy and a connection to people, the U.S. Postal Service holds a very different role for so many Kansans living in rural America.

Its services are ingrained in the daily routines and lifestyles of our rural communities. Men and women of our communities gather at the post office. They see their friends and neighbors when they go to get their mail at the mailbox at the post office. Everything from celebrating birthdays and weddings to supporting the town's economy, to even providing lifesaving assistance during a natural disaster or global pandemic revolves around the post office.

Rod Holub, former president of the Kansas State Association of Letter Carriers, reminded me of a supercell tornado that hit Manhattan, KS, in June 2008. There was no electronic communication available, and the only reliable way to communicate was the post office. One of the first people allowed in the affected area was Rod, the postal carrier.

Kansans living in Manhattan at the time have told me stories of how Rod assured every family that they would still be able to connect to their mail service since electronic communications were down, and it would be a while before they could be restored. Insurance claim information and legal documents were going to be vital in rebuilding their lives, and Rod ensured safe, secure, and timely delivery of those documents.

Similar situations occurred in the communities of Reading and Greensburg when natural disasters cut off their access to the local post office. When natural disasters wreak havoc in Kansas, a priority in the aftermath is helping to ensure postal operations resume quickly for Kansans who lost almost everything. In both of the cases of Greensburg and Reading, the Postal Service worked quickly with the communities to reestablish mail service and provide a method of communication to rebuild from the destruction.

It is often a neglected fact that the U.S. Postal Service letter carriers are the protective eyes and ears of the neighborhood, often going the extra mile to aid a customer in need of assistance. One such story occurred when a Kansas letter carrier discovered a customer confined to a wheelchair in the heat of summer and without air- conditioning, a fan, or a ramp to get in and out of their home. The Kansas letter carrier took it upon herself to rally the neighbors who all provided the customer with a window AC unit, a fan, and had a ramp built.

Much of the benefits of the Postal Service Reform Act will be halting the service reductions Kansans have been subjected to for the past 15 years. Dozens of post offices across the State have closed and multiple rural processing facilities in Dodge City, Colby, Hays, Salina, Topeka, and Fort Scott were shuttered. Now, if you live in many parts of Western Kansas or Eastern or Southeast Kansas, your mail is processed someplace far away--North Platte, NE; Amarillo, TX. There are only two processing facilities that remain in our State. The impact of these closures and consolidations disproportionately affect rural Kansans in both service reductions and lost jobs.

Congressional action on the postal reform legislation will allow the U.S. Postal Service to continue serving rural America without fear of imminent service reductions that will further isolate rural communities. The solution to the post office's financial circumstances can't simply be eliminating service, reducing service. To ensure that the U.S. Postal Service maintains its vital services, I urge my colleagues to support and vote for the Postal Service Reform Act.

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