(Washington, D.C.) - Montana's senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus is demanding justification for today's decision by the U.S. Postal Service to consolidate the mail processing facilities in Butte, Havre, and Helena with the Great Falls operation, and consolidate the Miles City facility with operations in Billings.

"This decision will slow the service Montanans depend on and cut jobs we can't afford to lose.  I want to see hard numbers proving this move will actually save big bucks for the Postal Service.  I also want the bureaucrats in Washington to prove they included public comment from Montanans when making a decision that will affect families and businesses on the ground in our state," Baucus said.   "We must cut back in tough economic times, but cutting back by cutting jobs won't improve our economy."  

Baucus called a face-to-face meeting with Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe in May, where he showed Donahoe a map of Montana and outlined for him the unique challenges facing rural Montanans and their Postal needs. Baucus emphasized the importance of maintaining post office operations in Montana's small towns, and the inconvenience to seniors and rural Montanans about having to travel long distances to get their mail if their local post office is closed.  He also urged Donahoe to take into account Montanans' input on Postal Service proposals to close processing centers in Butte, Helena, Havre, and Miles City which would result in the loss of up to 43 postal service jobs.

Recent timeline:

• May 12, 2011: Baucus meets with Donahoe pushing the Postal Service to incorporate public input into its plans to reorganize service and to justify that any changes do not disproportionately affect Montanans. 
• May 2, 2011: Baucus writes letter to Postmaster General Donahoe urging him to create a long term plan to avoid continuing threats to jobs and service for Montanans. 
• March 18, 2011: US Postal Service announces plans to study possible consolidation of Butte, Helena, Havre, and Miles City  
• January 2007: Postal Service responds to Baucus' requests and announces that it is abandoning proposal to consolidate the Helena Area Mail Processing center
• April 2006: Baucus opposes to a Postal Service proposal to consolidate the Helena Area Mail Processing center to Great Falls, due to concerns over the need for USPS to consider public input.

Contact: Kate Downen 406-224-5056/Jenny Donohue (202)224-4515/Kathy Weber 406-657-5915 

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