WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and 110 other U.S. House members today called on Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe to institute a moratorium on United States Postal Service (USPS) discontinuance studies, which will determine if more than 3,600 post offices and other retail facilities should be closed.

In a letter signed by the bipartisan group, Hinchey cited a Postal Regulatory Commission report that points to deep flaws with the data used by the USPS to determine which postal facilities should be considered for closure.

“The data the U.S. Postal Service used to select which post offices it would consider for closure was incomplete, inaccurate and inappropriately targeted rural post offices,” said Hinchey. “I’m calling on the Postmaster General to halt all discontinuance studies. Unless they start operating with better information, they could do more harm than good.”