Three-term Representative Bruce Braley has three potential Republican challengers for 2012, but a different adversary has been the Democrat’s prime target in public statements and many appearances around Iowa’s new first Congressional district.

Braley’s top punching bag of late has been the proposed restructuring of the U.S. Postal Service. The plan could close 178 mostly rural post offices in Iowa, many of them in the new IA-01. Braley has warned that shuttering post offices would hurt local economies. As a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, he has also highlighted the impact of post office closures on veterans and deployed military personnel.

Braley has spoken out on this issue since the U.S. Postal Service announced plans to cut about 3,700 retail offices nationwide three months ago. Here’s his statement from July 26, 2011:

“I’m incredibly disappointed and concerned to see so many post offices in Eastern Iowa on this list. All Iowa communities depend on their post offices, and I know how much this service means to my constituents. Post offices are important community fixtures and provide thousands of good-paying jobs to Iowans. That’s why I’ll keep fighting to protect these, and other post offices that are being considered for closure.”

The following day, Braley sent another press release containing his letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe:

Postmaster General Donahoe:

I’m writing regarding the recent announcement by the USPS on possible post office closures.  I was extremely disappointed to learn that the USPS may close up to 3,700 post offices across the country.

What is even more concerning is the potential loss of jobs that would go along with these closures.  Your list contains 178 post offices in Iowa that could potentially be closed.  Closing these post offices would lead to the loss of many jobs, both in Iowa and across the country.  As you know, we currently have an unemployment rate above 9%.  With unemployment this high, we simply cannot afford to lose more jobs.

That being said, I would like answers to the following questions:

*      Has the USPS analyzed the potential loss of jobs that would go along with closing almost 4,000 post offices?

*   If so, please provide me withthat analysis.

*   If not, why not, and when does the USPS intend to perform this analysis?

*      Finally, what steps is the USPS taking to ensure as little job loss as possible throughout this proposed process?

I’m strongly opposed to any plan that puts people out of work.  I ask that you reply to my request within 10 business days. Please feel free to contact me if I can provide further assistance.

Along with fellow Iowa members of Congress Dave Loebsack (D, IA-02), Leonard Boswell (D, IA-03) and Tom Latham (R, IA-04), Braley became a co-sponsor of H.R. 1351, the United States Pension Obligation Recalculation and Restoration Act of 2011. The goal of this bill is to deal with the postal service’s fiscal problems without eliminating large numbers of jobs. Incidentally, Iowa Republican Steve King (IA-05) has strongly criticized the proposed closure of post office facilities but didn’t co-sponsor H.R. 1351.

Braley serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which two weeks ago considered H.R. 2309, the Postal Reform Act of 2011. Here is a press release Braley’s office sent on October 13. Bolded passes were emphasized in the original:

Braley Works to Stop Closures of Iowa Post Offices

House panel passes bill allowing Postal Service to advance plans to close 178 Iowa post offices

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) released the following statement as the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform considers the Postal Reform Act, a bill that, in part, allows the Postal Service to move forward with plans to close up to 178 small town Iowa post offices.  Braley is a member of the panel.

Braley was able to successfully amend the bill to require the Postal Service to report on the number of jobs eliminated by their proposed post office closures, including the number of veterans jobs eliminated.  Braley’s amendment was passed with unanimous, bipartisan support.

“I grew up in a small town, and I know how important post offices are to these communities,” Braley said.  “It may not seem like much to a bureaucrat in Washington, but a post office is the centerpiece of a small town.  If not for the post office, what else would provide the spark for economic development?  What business would open in a town without one?

“No question, the Postal Service needs to change to survive.  But it doesn’t have to build its recovery on the backs of small town Americans.  That’s why I’m working to improve this bill and prevent post office closures in Iowa.  I’m disappointed that the bill we’re considering today doesn’t protect small town post offices.”

If passed by the panel, the Postal Reform Act of 2011 would move to the full House for consideration.  If passed by the House, it would advance to the Senate for consideration.

The Postal Reform Act:

  1. Allows the Postal Service to eliminate Saturday delivery.

  2. Establishes a commission to close post offices and postal facilities.

  3. Reduces rural mail delivery.

  4. Allows the Postal Service to sell advertising space on property and vehicles.

  5. Allows the Postal Service to raise the price of bulk mail delivery.

Braley has sponsored an alternative postal reorganization plan that would prevent post office closures by allowing the Postal Service to reclaim billions of dollars in overpayments it has made in recent years to its employees’ retirement system.  

As Braley travels in the new IA-01’s 20 counties, he has scheduled events in several communities at risk of losing their post offices. I expect him to hold many similar public meetings over the next year. This month Braley talked with residents in Brandon (Buchanan County) and Onslow (Jones County). The Monticello Express weekly newspaper covered Braley’s October 21 event in Onslow here. Note how Braley links post offices to veterans’ well-being and deployed military personnel.

Three of these post offices are right here in Jones County: Center Junction, Onslow and Monmouth.

“The Post Office is the center of community activity,” commented Braley. “That’s why fighting to keep rural post offices open is an important priority of mine. They are vital to the life blood of a community.” […]

Braley said that is why he voted against the bill, and offered amendments of his own that will help in deciding which post offices are closed. He said the changes require the committee to consider the impact closing post offices have on jobs and the impact on our veterans.

“The post office is the largest employer of veterans in the U.S.,” commented Braley. […]

Braley said humanizing the closure of all these small town post offices is critical. He said post offices are important in many factors, including our men and women serving overseas. He said you couldn’t send a package over the Internet to your loved one. […]

Someone commented that, right now, our government is trying to create jobs since the recession. Closing these small town post offices is doing just the opposite.

“This is exactly why I proposed amendments to the bill,” said Braley. “There are a lot of veterans out there without jobs. They need to focus on the economic impact of these closures.” […]

With many senior citizens in attendance during the town hall meeting, some of them said they do not drive in the winter, so it’s nice to be able to walk to their local post office to get their mail. If the Onslow Post Office closes its doors, residents would be directed to Wyoming. The same is true for disabled residents as well.

“That’s part of the compelling story of why this post office is so important,” commented Braley.

Last week Braley launched an online petition opposing the post office closure plans. Excerpt from an October 27 press release (emphasis in original):

“Washington bureaucrats want to close thousands of post offices across the country, including almost 200 here in Iowa,” Braley wrote in an email to Iowans.  “This is the wrong move, and I need your help to make sure Washington gets the message that our post offices must stay open.

“The Postal Service is in financial trouble, but closing post offices in Iowa isn’t the answer,” Braley continued. “One single post office is just a drop in the bucket for the massive Postal Service bureaucracy.  But it can be everything to a small town.”

Braley also highlighted his petition drive in an e-mail blast to Iowans last week. He’ll eventually send the list of names to the postmaster general. Petition drives are also good list-building techniques for politicians.

I expect IA-01 voters to hear a lot about Braley’s fight to save post offices during the 2012 general election campaign. One of the Republican candidates in IA-01, Dubuque business owner Rod Blum, is on record supporting proposals to run the postal service “like a private-sector business.” Blum has compared Braley’s efforts to stop office closures to “business as usual” and “kicking the can down the street.”

To my knowledge, Braley’s first declared challenger, Steve Rathje, hasn’t taken a specific position on the post office closures. That said, Rathje calls for running the government like a business on his campaign website.

I haven’t seen public comments about the post office closures from Ben Lange, Braley’s 2010 Republican opponent who has formed an exploratory committee for 2012. Lange’s updated campaign website doesn’t contain any issue statements yet.

Share any relevant thoughts in this thread.

NOVEMBER UPDATE: Radio Iowa reported that Braley visited several more post offices at risk of closure during the week of November 10.

“One of the things that has been considered is the possibility of ending Saturday delivery,” Braley says. “For most residents in rural communities threatened with the lost of their post office, they tell me they would give that up if it meant they still had five-day delivery in their community.”

Braley says a small town’s post office is more than just a building or a business. “The post office was one of the most important parts of the community I grew up in,” Braley says. “One of my most valuable possessions is a letter that my grandmother sent to my dad when he was serving in the South Pacific during World War II and that was from a small, rural post office.”