News
November 3, 2008
harkin praises usps decision to keep mail processing plant in sioux city
Des Moines, IA – U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today released the following statement after learning of the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) decision to allow for the Processing and Distribution Facility to remain in Sioux City.
“I am very pleased that the Postal Service decided to keep the processing plant in Sioux City,” said Harkin. “The Siouxland community came together to make sure the USPS heard their concerns and I am positive that their input made a big difference in today’s decision.”
Since 2006, Harkin has been fighting to ensure the facility remained in Sioux City and that any plans regarding the Processing Facility included community input and was transparent. He succeeded in pushing USPS to conduct a service audit to determine the impact consolidation would have on Sioux City. He also included language in the Postal Reform Bill that would block USPS from implementing any consolidation plan unless it has conducted a study to examine costs of the plan on Siouxland. Harkin also requested a GAO report on its realigning and consolidation processes. He found that the USPS was not providing an opportunity for local communities, business people and other stakeholders to either provide input or hear the Postal Service’s reasoning behind their decision making at any stage of the process.
