Norton Asks Postmaster to Restore Washington, DC Postmark (12/5/07)

Washington, DC--Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today called D.C. Postmaster Yverne P. (Pat) Moore and made a formal request for restoration of the Washington, DC postmark. Postmaster Moore has agreed to look into the matter and get back to the Congresswoman within a few days. Norton, although a member of the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia, said that she had "no notice of the disappearance of the postmark of the capital of the United States. I do not believe that England or France would allow London or Paris to disappear as postmarks recognized worldwide. The postmark may be of diminishing significance for some cities. However, for the capital of the United States, the postmark is more than a matter of local pride. The postmark identifies the capital of the United States of America and the District of Columbia. Its dual hometown and official significance, which dates back to the founding of our country, argues strongly for preserving the postmark." Norton said that, as a member of the subcommittee, she is keenly aware of justifiable pressures on the Postal Service for efficiency in today's hyper-competitive and technological climate. Moreover, she said that she understands that incoming mail can no longer be processed at the Joseph P. Curseen Jr. and Thomas L. Morris Jr. Center (formally the Brentwood Post Office) because of the tragic anthrax terrorist event and deaths that affected D.C. neighborhoods and official mail to the capital and other government agencies. However, Norton, who participated in hearings to assure prompt delivery here several years ago, told Postmaster Moore that she believed that sorting out requests for some D.C. postmark requests was more inefficient than fully utilizing the D.C. postmark machines.

Norton said that "requests by some members of Congress and residents to use the Washington, DC postmark indicate the importance it carries." She believes that "residents and others should not be put to the inconvenience of requesting a D.C. postmark, and that the Postal Service should not be burdened with the inefficiency of picking through individual requests or otherwise sorting some mail to assure the D.C. postmark." Norton thinks that it is more efficient and best for all concerned to keep our mail together as Washington, DC mail. Considering that millions of pieces of mail from D.C. are processed, accurately marking where they originated in the case of the capital makes sense. She assumed, and the Postmaster confirmed, that the mail is consolidated from various points in the city and is sent in bulk together to the Gaithersburg and Capitol Heights centers. Norton believes the D.C. machines previously used for the D.C. postmark are being used upon request, and she does not think that significant additional investment would be necessary to restore the capital's postmark.