06.28.11

Durbin Commends Decision to Keep Joliet Post Office Open

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today commended the decision to keep the downtown Joliet Post Office open.  According to Joliet Mayor Tom Giarrante, a study conducted by the U.S. Postal Service showed that the demand for postal service in downtown Joliet remains strong and is expected to grow in the near future. 

 

“Closing post offices in Illinois would not only impact mail service, but would also hurt local economies,” said Durbin.  “The Postmaster General’s decision to keep the Joliet post office open shows that he understands how important this facility is to the community.”

 

Durbin, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) – the committee with financial jurisdiction over the U.S. Postal Service – has been active in protecting jobs at several U.S. Postal Service facilities in Illinois.  In January 2009, he sent a letter to the Postmaster General in regards to their plans to conduct an Area Mail Processing study on the Processing and Distribution Annex in Quincy.  After Durbin directed the Postal Service not to pursue the study as part of the FY2010 appropriations process, the U.S. Postal Service announced the termination of the study. 

 

Additionally, in March 2011, Durbin, Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Congressman Don Manzullo (R-IL) expressed concern in a letter to the Postmaster General about the U.S. Postal Service’s plan to conduct a study on the possible consolidation of the mail processing operations performed at the Rockford Processing and Distribution Facility with those performed at the Postal Service’s Carol Stream facility.  Similar moves, which often have a negative impact on the local workforce, have been proposed in three other Illinois communities – Champaign, Effingham and most recently Centralia.