WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Rick Crawford (R-AR) announced that the Postal Service is delaying all post office closures until next year. No post offices or distribution facilities will be closed or consolidated before May 15, 2012. The Postal Service decided to postpone the closures so that Congress has time to pass postal reform legislation.

“Our grassroots movement to save rural post offices is paying off,” said Crawford. “The Postal Service cannot expect to close their cash gap by shutting down post offices in small communities. The 1st Congressional District stands to lose 100 offices. We cannot sit idly by and let Washington bureaucrats decide who should, and who should not, receive mail service.”

Crawford has taken action to prevent the closure of rural post offices by filing H.R. 3370, Protecting Our Rural Post Offices Act of 2011. The bill would prohibit the Postal Service from closing a rural post office if there is not another office within 8 miles. The bill’s goal is to ensure rural Americans have access to postal services.

“The great majority of scheduled closures are in rural areas. The Protecting Our Rural Post Offices Act will make sure rural Americans keep access to postal services,” said Crawford. “Rural Americans rely on their post office for medicine deliveries, social security benefits and countless other reasons. Access to postal services should not be limited to only urban areas.”

As part of the Postal Service’s plans to cut $20 billion in costs by 2015, some 3,700 post offices and more than 250 mail processing facilities are slated for closure.