ACMA Praises Bipartisan Senate Legislation Addressing Pending US Postal Service Insolvency

Catalog Group views new bill as a major step forward in resolving issues affecting mailing industry employment

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With the Nov. 2 announcement of a new bill designed to get the ailing US Postal Service on its feet, the American Catalog Mailers Association had deep praise for the work of a bipartisan panel of Senate leaders in postal oversight. "While we have not yet had the opportunity to study the full legislative language, based on a summary we have received by the Senate Oversight Committee staff, today's bill appears to contain all the major elements necessary to allow the Postal Service to complete its restructuring and meet its obligations, while removing the surplus capacity that is neither needed or cost affordable," said Hamilton Davison, President of ACMA. "Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) has told us that she completely understands the impact of postal costs on catalog industry employment and circulation volumes and does not want to see anything done that puts American jobs at risk."

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"Catalogs are highly price sensitive," Sen. Collins said during a meeting with ACMA and other mailer interests this week. Left unchecked, the financial situation at the Postal Service would mean either major service reductions or higher mailing prices. Neither is practical and puts the 8 million jobs that depend on the Postal Service at risk.

"The Senate is to be commended for taking on the hard issues and coming up with creative solutions that can earn widespread support from a majority of postal stakeholders," Davison said. "The issues are complex, deep and immediate; this is real progress to fix a basic part of our nation's economic infrastructure that remains essential for the economy. This legislation can avoid massive dislocation of jobs, disruptive inconveniences for American consumers and significant reductions in the diversity of products available in the market. We hope all mailers will rally behind this initiative so it can be passed quickly into law."

About the American Catalog Mailers Association: ACMA is a Washington-based nonprofit trade group created to advocate for unique, collective interests of catalog mailers in regulatory, public and administrative matters where the shared impact transcends individual company interests. ACMA participates in rule-making or commercial proceedings of significance where a single collective voice increases influence and effectiveness. ACMA is a cataloger-only group; membership is open to any party with significant interests in the catalog industry.  More information can be found at www.catalogmailers.org.

SOURCE American Catalog Mailers Association