Affordable Mail Alliance Says Senator Collins Agrees with Its Position

WASHINGTON, DC—August 3, 2010—Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Ranking Republican Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released a statement today agreeing with the Affordable Mail Alliance that the exigent rate hikes proposed by the USPS are not justified under the law.

Collins, one of the main authors of the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), wrote that, “I have repeatedly expressed my concerns to the Postal Service that reducing service and increasing rates are not the means to raise mail volume and restore fiscal balance… As the author of the PAEA, I can unequivocally state that the law does not provide for an exigent rate case based merely on poor economic circumstances or on increased utilization of electronic or other alternatives to traditional mail. Neither of these circumstances is exceptional nor extraordinary as required by law.”