(Washington, D.C.) -  Montana's senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus issued the following statement today in light of the news the U.S. Postal Service is backing away from a plan to send Missoula's mail processing center to Spokane:

 "I've fought hard to come up with a solution to save Montana's post offices and guard against consolidations that could impact service. While the Postal Service clearly must address its fiscal problems, it's important that Montanans are not asked to unfairly shoulder the burden. I'm going to keep pressing the Postal Service to listen to Montanans and take a hard look at whether this plan makes sense."

Baucus has joined the many Montanans who have pressed the U.S. Postal Service to reconsider plans to shut down rural post offices or unfairly target Montana area mail processing centers for consolidation.

Recent timeline of Baucus' work includes:

• December 13, 2011 - Baucus Staves off Rural Post Office Closures, Works on Postal Service Solution
• November 29, 2011 - Baucus Blasts Plan to Send Montana Mail, Jobs Out of State
• October 4, 2011 - Baucus Introduces Bill to Aid Cash-Strapped Postal Service, Keep Remote Rural Offices Open
• October 3, 2011 - Baucus Demands Postal Service Properly Consider Montana Public Comment
• September 8, 2011 - Baucus Invites Post Master General to Montana
• August 31, 2011 - Baucus Encourages Montanans to Weigh In on Postal Closings
• July 26, 2011 - Baucus Slams Study on More Rural Postal Closings
• July 8, 2011 - Baucus Demands Justification for Postal Closings
• May 13, 2011 - Baucus Meets with Postmaster General
• May 2, 2011 - Baucus Calls for Meeting with Postmaster General