Rep. Sandford D. Bishop Jr., D-Ga. , issued the following press release:

July 29 2010

Washington, DC – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-2) today sent a letter to the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Representative Edolphus “Ed” Towns (NY-10), regarding the U.S. Postal Service operations transfer from the Columbus Customer Service Mail Processing Center to the Macon Processing and Distribution Center. In the letter, dated July 28, 2010, Congressman Bishop stated a series of concerns about the transfer and its negative effects on the Columbus area.

“Attempts by the Postal Service to improve productivity and increase efficiency have resulted in new procedures which have severely impacted postal service in the Columbus area,” wrote Congressman Bishop. “Especially impacted is mail originating from Columbus, Georgia and destined for Columbus, Georgia.”

Congressman Bishop expressed his concern that the new system will force mail to be postmarked in Macon, 96 miles away, before it can be sent back to Columbus to be delivered, adding up to three days to delivery schedules. In addition, the transfer was approved May 26, 2010 and the process was to be completed by the first of this month.

“According to conversations with mail employees at the Columbus mail facility, there have been significantly more delays with mail, even though the Postal Service study suggested there would be an improvement in service,” wrote Congressman Bishop.

While a study of mail delivery systems in the Columbus area was conducted, it did not include Fort Benning, which is scheduled, under the BRAC process, to greatly increase in size. This increase in population, combined with the 96+ miles of mail travel distance will only further mail delivery delays.

“It appears that the Macon facility, which now has idle equipment, cannot deliver mail to Columbus in a timely fashion,” added Congressman Bishop