2. The Mission of the Postal Service
The mission of the United States Postal Service, as framed in the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, states:²

TABLE 4.2 USPS MISSION STATEMENT

	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 comminuities.

The Postal Service has been successful in achieving the objectives of the Postal Reorganization Act. The public service subsidy, once amounting to about 25 percent of the postal budget, has not been requested since 1982, saving taxpayers billions of dollars since then. Average postal prices generally have not increased faster than the overall rate of cost increases in the U.S. economy since 1970. Service performance and customer satisfaction have reached record levels, and the Postal Service is rated favorably even in comparison to private sector firms.

The Postal Service regularly delivers to every address in the nation – including 1.7 million new addresses last year – and maintains an extensive network of retail post offices, providing consumers access to postal services through over 38,000 post offices, stations, and branches in communities across the country.

The Postal Service is still percieved by American businesses, the public and their representatives in Congress as a vital and necessary part of the infrastructure of the nation.³ Despite the widespread availability of direct competitors and technological substitutes for traditional postal services over the last decade, mail volume generally has continued to grow – evidence of continued demand for postal services.