U.S. Card Industry, Mail Carriers Flex Muscle in Postal Service Debate: The U.S. lobbying forces that defeated a Postal Service plan to end Saturday delivery to reduce its annual deficit are now using their Capitol Hill clout to pass a law to make six-day delivery mandatory.
At a hearing on Wednesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers urged lawmakers to write six-day delivery into law.
A bill mandating six-day delivery begun in the Oversight Committee in January has gained momentum and now boasts 175 cosponsors. It is yet another sign of the growing influence of interest groups and postal employee unions who constitute a powerful lobbying force on Capitol Hill.
The group, which includes lobbyists for greeting card companies, the newspaper industry and letter carriers unions, spent more than $1 million last year to thwart the Postal Service's plan.
