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May 4,2015
Ms. Megan J. Brennan
Postmaster General
United States Postal Service
4'15 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
Washington,DC 20260
Dear Postmaster General Brennan:

I write to urge you to reconsider the termination of the Tucson Processing and Distribution
Center. Like many of my constituents, I am concerned that this decision and other steps to consolidate
postal operations in Arizona were made without a full and transparent analysis of the potentialeconomic
consequences and the impact on the mail system in our region.
As you know, closing the'Iucson facility has drastically increased the workload of the U.S. Postal
Service (USPS) processing center located in my congressional district. A significant volume of mail that
would have been sorted in Tucson is norv being rerouted and processed in Phoenix. This decision could
lead to delays and disruptions of maildelivery and the USPS Inspector General has already determined
that insufficient consideration was given to how consolidation could impact mail service to Arizona
residents.

Troublingly, moving operations away from Tucson and other steps to consolidate USPS
operations in Arizona could also do real harm to our state's economy. Arizona is projected to lose 148
good-paying postal jobs-and 229 jobs overall-leading to the loss of nearly $ 1 5 million in labor income,
according to the Fiscal Policy lnstitute. In addition, USPS consolidations in our state will reduce federal
tax receipts by $3.a million and cost Arizona $330,000 in state and local tax revenue.
Given these concerning statistics and the potential negative impact on mail processing and
delivery in Arizona, I strongly urge you to suspend all consolidation efforts to allow USPS to fulfill its
regulatory and statutory obligation to engage in a complete, fair, and transparent review of service
standard changes.

I am committed to working with you to protect and promote quality postal services in our
communities, and welcome the opportunity to host you on a visit to USPS's Phoenix processing facility to
hear firsthand from residents and businesses across the Phoenix metro area.
Thank you for your attention to this imporlant matter.

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Ruben Gallego

Member of Congress

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