Alaska's lone representative, Don Young accused the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Darrell Issa (R-Calif), of meddling on Tuesday after Issa attacked the cost of the bypass mail system that services rural Alaska.

At a hearing of the oversight committee, titled, “Alaska Bypass Mail Delivery: A Broken System,” the committee addressed the $76 million subsidy spent in Alaska on shipping of goods to rural parts of Alaska through private commercial carriers. Seen as a less expensive option for sending goods to the outlying areas, the program ultimately saves money by not funneling that freight through the postal service.

If mailed through the postal service, postal facilities in Alaska would likely have to go through expensive upgrades to handle the increased parcels moving through their facilities.

But, Issa said during the hearing that the cost of the subsidy is like the postal service buying a giant new bridge in Alaska every six years. Issa stated in what seemed a barb directed at Young, “The subsidy means that every six years the American rate payer is buying a Bridge to Nowhere.” Young championed the Ketchikan Bridge project.

Issa continued to argue that allowing three more carriers on the main routes for bypass mail would increase efficiency. Young pointed out in a statement to the committee that Issa is just working toward getting an airline owned by the Donald R Swortwood Trust, ACE Air Cargo, a contract to carry bypass mail in the state. Mr. Swortwood is a frequent contributor to Issa and his leadership pact.

ACE has worked vigorously to get a bypass contract in Alaska. An ACE executive testified at the hearing that the program would benefit by having freight-only carriers haul a larger share of the mail.

But, Representative Young argued that without passengers aboard the airlines to offset operating costs, the costs would be much larger, Young said, “you can’t have efficiency if you don’t haul passengers.”

Senator Begich told the chairman that 80% of Alaskan communities are not on the road system and that everything must be shipped in by mail. He went on to say that the program allows those rural Alaskans to have the most cost-efficient universal postal service available through carriers that also provide passenger service. Begich also stated that the carrier restrictions in place were about safety. But, Issa fired back saying, “Are you saying that these other three carriers aren’t safe to carry milk, or vegetables or cans of coke?”

Begich replied, “I’m saying safety is part of the equation.”

Issa then queried, “What level of safety do you need for a can of coke?”

Begich broke off from the safety debate and pointed out that the Senate was moving a bi-partisan bill that addressed the broader problems that the postal service is facing. He stated that that bill left the bypass mail program intact.

In an oral statement to the committee, the Deputy Inspector General, Tammy Whitcomb said, that their research suggests that the Alaska Bypass does not work, pointing to the much higher costs of goods to the rural areas such as toothpaste that costs $1,10 more despite shipping costs as low as 14 cent and the cost of groceries that are as much as double the cost of bypass hubs such as Anchorage and Fairbanks.

She also stated that possible reforms to the bypass mail system in Alaska would be to return freight shipment to the private sector or giving the postal service more operational freedom by ending the 12-month notice period and by ending restrictions that keep new carriers from entering the market. She also suggested raising the rates on bypass mail. She also suggested that the state re-imburse the postal service with permanent fund money for the costs of bypass mail.

In statements after the committee hearing, Alaska’s delegation released statements.

“Chairman Issa’s proposed changes would infringe on Alaska’s right to universal mail service and would make the system more expensive and less effective for the Postal Service and Alaskans,” said Begich. “As a member of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee, I have already fought hard to convince the Postmaster General to roll back rate increases for Alaskans and protect bypass mail. I am not going to allow some misguided efforts to undo the bypass system. The changes Rep. Issa proposed are unacceptable. Alaskans are open to discussing ways to make the system more efficient, but we will oppose any changes that violate universal service or make the Postal Service worse off. Alaskans should not have to pay more to receive the same service as other Americans.”

“The Committee is dead wrong to pursue changes to bypass mail that will create no new efficiencies, be detrimental to the economy and air carrier market in Alaska, and potentially damage the quality of life to rural residents,” said Congressman Don Young. “This pursuit is assuredly counterproductive to the committee’s goals. I don’t know where this idea that Alaska’s bypass mail system is broken came from. It is certainly not broken; in fact, it’s working well. We need this for the people in the rural areas of Alaska. We don’t need to fix something that’s not broken, it does work!”

“[Alaska’s] bypass mail system saves the Postal Service an estimated $13.4 million per year in operating costs alone by allowing a huge volume of qualifying Parcel Post mail to literally bypass postal facilities,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski in the statement she provided the committee. “In Alaska, we routinely figure out ways to overcome our challenges. The bypass mail process is one such example. In fact, the Postmaster General has said, ‘The current bypass mail process is the most cost-effective and efficient way for the Postal Service to handle the large Parcel Post volume for Alaska.’ … The bypass mail process costs the United States Treasury absolutely nothing, and saves the Postal Service money. The bypass mail process—as it is currently constructed—is the most cost-efficient method for delivering mail to rural Alaska.”

Click on delegate names to read Senator Begich’s, as well as Senator Murkowski’s and Representative Don Young’s written testimonies to the committee.