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On Tuesday, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) was elected chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the committee that has jurisdiction over the U.S. Postal Service.

Chaffetz will replace Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), whose term as chairman expires at the end of the year. Because Republicans held on to their majority in the House of Representatives following the Nov. 4 midterm elections, the members of that party get to choose the leaders of the various House committees.

NALC President Fredric V. Rolando released the following statement of congratulations following the announcement:

On behalf of the 277,000 active and retired members of the National Association of Letter Carriers, I congratulate Congressman Chaffetz on his new role and look forward to working with him in the 114th Congress.

We hope that this change in leadership of our oversight committee will help bring forward some fresh ideas for preserving a Postal Service that delivers for all Americans and will allow for increased collaboration with committee members on both sides of the aisle.

Our hope also is that the change in leadership will also do away with proposals to dismantle the Postal Service and attack workers in the process.

Protecting six-day mail delivery, addressing the unfair and onerous pre-funding mandate, preserving existing mail standards and networks and allowing the Postal Service to keep innovating and growing—all of these issues remain our top priorities.

As we have stressed time and again, ensuring that the Postal Service remains healthy and vibrant is not a partisan issue. We will continue to press the letter carrier agenda with Chairman-elect Chaffetz and all of the men and women who represent us in the House and Senate.

We encourage letter carriers to continue to educate all members of Congress about the invaluable services we provide and about our importance to every community in America.