Editing United States Postal Service (section)

=== Legal basis and rationale ===
[[Postal Clause|Article I, section 8, Clause 7]] of the [[U.S. Constitution]] grants Congress the power to establish post offices and post roads,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript|title=The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription|date=November 4, 2015|newspaper=National Archives|language=en|access-date=January 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131000136/https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript|archive-date=January 31, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> which has been interpreted as a de facto Congressional monopoly over the delivery of first-class residential mail—which has been defined as non-urgent residential letters (not packages). Accordingly, no other system for delivering first-class residential mail—public or private—has been tolerated, absent Congress's consent. The mission of the Postal Service is to provide the American public with trusted universal postal service. While not explicitly defined, the Postal Service's [[universal service obligation]] (USO) is broadly outlined in statute and includes multiple dimensions: geographic scope, range of products, access to services and facilities, delivery frequency, affordable and uniform pricing, service quality, and security of the mail. While other carriers may claim to voluntarily provide delivery on a broad basis, the Postal Service is the only carrier with a ''legal obligation'' to provide all the various aspects of universal service.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://about.usps.com/universal-postal-service/usps-uso-executive-summary.pdf|title=Mission statement|website=about.usps.com|access-date=January 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412172323/https://about.usps.com/universal-postal-service/usps-uso-executive-summary.pdf|archive-date=April 12, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Proponents of universal service principles claim that since any obligation must be matched by the financial capability to meet that obligation, the postal monopoly was put in place as a funding mechanism for the USO, and it has been in place for over a hundred years. It consists of two parts: the [[Private Express Statutes]] (PES) and the mailbox access rule. The PES refer to the Postal Service's monopoly on the delivery of letters, and the mailbox rule refers to the Postal Service's exclusive access to customer mailboxes.<ref name="2008 USO Postal Monopoly report">{{cite web|url=https://about.usps.com/universal-postal-service/usps-uso-report.pdf|title=Report On Universal Postal Service and The Postal Monopoly|publisher=USPS|access-date=January 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219020753/http://about.usps.com/universal-postal-service/usps-uso-report.pdf|archive-date=December 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

Proponents of universal service principles further claim that eliminating or reducing the PES or mailbox rule would affect the ability of the Postal Service to provide affordable universal service. If, for example, the PES and the mailbox rule were to be eliminated, and the USO maintained, then either billions of dollars in tax revenues or some other source of funding would have to be found.<ref name="2008 USO Postal Monopoly report"/>

Some proponents{{by whom|date=April 2012}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/technology/2013/06/nsa-surveillance-why-the-post-office-doesnt-spy-on-your-mail-the-way-nsa-spies-on-your-email.html|title=Why It's So Much Harder for the Government to Spy on Your Snail Mail Than Your Email.|last=Webb|first=Amy|date=June 12, 2013|website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|language=en|access-date=December 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204200132/https://slate.com/technology/2013/06/nsa-surveillance-why-the-post-office-doesnt-spy-on-your-mail-the-way-nsa-spies-on-your-email.html|archive-date=December 4, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> of universal service principles suggest that private communications that are protected by the veil of government promote the exchange of free ideas and communications. This separates private communications from the ability of a private for-profit or non-profit organization to corrupt. Security for the individual is in this way protected by the United States Post Office, maintaining confidentiality and anonymity, as well as government employees being much less likely to be instructed by superiors to engage in nefarious spying.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}} It is seen by some{{by whom|date=April 2012}} as a dangerous step to extract the universal service principle from the post office, as the untainted nature of private communications is preserved as assurance of the protection of individual freedom of privacy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/445449-perhaps-we-need-the-us-postal-service-to-restore-trust-in-digital|title=Perhaps we need the US Postal Service to restore trust in digital communication|last=Gilliland|first=Donald|date=May 25, 2019|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|language=en|access-date=December 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204200212/https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/445449-perhaps-we-need-the-us-postal-service-to-restore-trust-in-digital|archive-date=December 4, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

However, as the recent notice of a termination of mail service to residents of the [[Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness]] indicates, mail service has been contracted to private firms such as Arnold Aviation for many decades. KTVB-TV reported:<ref>[http://www.ktvb.com/news/local/64242462.html Postal Service to renew Idaho back country mail route] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315225213/http://www.ktvb.com/news/local/64242462.html |date=March 15, 2012}} Alyson Outen, KTVB-TV, April 10, 2009</ref>