Washington, Jun 23 – Today, Rep. Bill Foster (IL-14) sent a letter to the United States Postal Service in opposition to the anticipated decision to move postal operations from the Fox Valley Processing and Distribution Center in Aurora to the South Suburban Processing and Distribution Center in Bedford Park.

The text of the letter appears below.

Dear Postmaster General Potter:

Thank you for your dedication to the United States Postal Service. The mail carriers, postal workers and staff of the Postal Service provide quality, inexpensive and efficient service for over 170 billion pieces of mail every year. I write expressing strong reservations and concern about the upcoming decision by the Postmaster General to possibly move some operations from the Fox Valley Processing and Distribution Center in Aurora, Illinois to the South Suburban Processing and Distribution Center in Bedford Park, Illinois.

This decision would adversely impact the residents of Aurora, Illinois and the surrounding communities. Currently, unemployment in Aurora is 11.7%, well above the national unemployment rate. The elimination of additional jobs in Aurora will have a ripple effect across the community, from the local schools to local businesses who are already struggling in this tough economic time.

With a boom in population in the last 10 years, the city of Aurora has grown to the second largest city in Illinois, behind only Chicago, with a population of 157,267 according to a special census in 2003. Over the past seven years, this number has surely grown. I believe that when our current period of economic instability ends, the city will continue to grow at a fast rate. It would be a sound business decision to take this rapid growth into consideration when determining where to place postal facilities.

I fully understand the United States Postal Service has tough decisions to make in the future in order to ensure the survival of the most trusted and valued of government services. We must take the impact that reorganization of facilities will have on the local community into account.

I strongly encourage the United States Postal Service to consider the impact on the Aurora community and I believe other cost saving alternatives may be better suited for this area.

Sincerely,

BILL FOSTER