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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 101. Postal policy
(a) The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic
and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of
the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by Act
of Congress, and supported by the people. The Postal Service shall
have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal
services to bind the Nation together through the personal,
educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people.
It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to
patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all
communities. The costs of establishing and maintaining the Postal
Service shall not be apportioned to impair the overall value of
such service to the people.
(b) The Postal Service shall provide a maximum degree of
effective and regular postal services to rural areas, communities,
and small towns where post offices are not self-sustaining. No
small post office shall be closed solely for operating at a
deficit, it being the specific intent of the Congress that
effective postal services be insured to residents of both urban and
rural communities.
(c) As an employer, the Postal Service shall achieve and maintain
compensation for its officers and employees comparable to the rates
and types of compensation paid in the private sector of the economy
of the United States. It shall place particular emphasis upon
opportunities for career advancements of all officers and employees
and the achievement of worthwhile and satisfying careers in the
service of the United States.
(d) Postal rates shall be established to apportion the costs of
all postal operations to all users of the mail on a fair and
equitable basis.
(e) In determining all policies for postal services, the Postal
Service shall give the highest consideration to the requirement for
the most expeditious collection, transportation, and delivery of
important letter mail.
(f) In selecting modes of transportation, the Postal Service
shall give highest consideration to the prompt and economical
delivery of all mail and shall make a fair and equitable
distribution of mail business to carriers providing similar modes
of transportation services to the Postal Service. Modern methods of
transporting mail by containerization and programs designed to
achieve overnight transportation to the destination of important
letter mail to all parts of the Nation shall be a primary goal of
postal operations.
(g) In planning and building new postal facilities, the Postal
Service shall emphasize the need for facilities and equipment
designed to create desirable working conditions for its officers
and employees, a maximum degree of convenience for efficient postal
services, proper access to existing and future air and surface
transportation facilities, and control of costs to the Postal
Service.
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