Kildee Calls on Postmaster General to Reverse Assault on Postal Service
Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05), Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus, along with 172 other Members of Congress, sent a letter to the United States Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, calling for the reversal of policies that have worsened the crisis facing the U.S. Postal Service and have created a dramatic increase in delayed and undelivered mail.
"It is always essential that the Postal Service be able to deliver mail in a timely and effective manner. During the once-in-a-century health and economic crisis of COVID-19, the Postal Service's smooth functioning is a matter of life-or-death, and is critical for protecting lives, livelihoods and the life of our American Democracy," Kildee and other members wrote.
On May 15th, Congressman Kildee voted for $25 billion in emergency financial relief for the USPS. The relief is a part of The Heroes Act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in May. The U.S. Senate has failed to act on this bill for over three months.
Below is the text of the letter to the Postmaster General:
Dear Postmaster General:
We write to follow up on the letter that was sent on August 6 to you regarding many serious concerns about operational changes that you have implemented since assuming the position of Postmaster General, which have worsened the crisis facing the Postal Service, and specifically have exacerbated a dramatic increase in delayed and undelivered mail impacting mail delivery times and quality of service for Americans. We wrote last week, and sadly, the letter sent today to the Oversight Committee is insufficient.
As you know, the United States Postal Service is a pillar of our American Democracy that is enshrined in the Constitution, which empowers Congress to "establish Post Offices and Post Roads." The Postal Service provides critical services for the American people: delivering medicine to seniors, paychecks to workers, tax refunds to millions and absentee ballots to voters.
It is always essential that the Postal Service be able to deliver mail in a timely and effective manner. During the once-in-a-century health and economic crisis of COVID-19, the Postal Service's smooth functioning is a matter of life-or-death, and is critical for protecting lives, livelihoods and the life of our American Democracy.
The House is seriously concerned that you are implementing policies that accelerate the crisis at the Postal Service, including directing Post Offices to no longer treat all election mail as First Class. If implemented now, as the election approaches, this policy will cause further delays to election mail that will disenfranchise voters and put significant financial pressure on election jurisdictions. Because many states have traditionally allowed voters to request absentee ballot applications and absentee ballots within a few days of the election, it is essential that standard delivery times remain short and pricing remain consistent.
We also remain concerned about a significant operational restructuring, done without any apparent analysis and consultation, which will weaken the ability of the Postal Service to respond to local needs. These changes were made without sufficient consultation with Congress, and include reductions of overtime availability, restrictions on extra mail transportation trips, testing of new mail sorting and delivery policies at hundreds of Post Offices, and the reduction of the number and use of processing equipment at mail processing plants. These changes compound the operational and service delays that you have instituted.
During our meeting with Leader Schumer on August 5, you committed to greater transparency and accountability with the Congress and the American people regarding the changes that you have made, which directly reach into the lives of the American people. We remind you of your pledge to provide documentation of the operational changes that you have and are currently making, and of the Postal Service's plan to successfully deliver election mail during the 2020 elections.
The Postal Service motto states, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Let us keep the promise provided for in the Constitution to the American people.
We await your swift reply.
Sincerely,
Representatives Daniel T. Kildee, Nancy Pelosi, Carolyn B. Maloney, Steny H. Hoyer, James E. Clyburn, Ben Ray Luján, Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark, Cheri Bustos, Donald Norcross, David N. Cicilline, Debbie Dingell, Matt Cartwright, Barbara Lee, Eric Swalwell, Jamie Raskin, Veronica Escobar, Joe Neguse, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Peter A. DeFazio, Theodore E. Deutch, Eliot L. Engel, Raúl M. Grijalva, Zoe Lofgren, Nita Lowey, James P. McGovern, Jerrold Nadler, Richard E. Neal, Frank Pallone, Jr., Adam Schiff, Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, Adam Smith, Mark Takano, Bennie G. Thompson, Nydia M. Velázquez, John Yarmuth, Alma S. Adams, Ph.D., Pete Aguilar, Colin Allred, Cindy Axne, Nanette Diaz Barragán, Donald S. Beyer Jr., Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., Earl Blumenauer, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Suzanne Bonamici, Brendan F. Boyle, Anthony G. Brown, Julia Brownley, Salud O. Carbajal, Tony Cárdenas, André Carson, Ed Case, Sean Casten, Joaquin Castro, Judy Chu, Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr., Emanuel Cleaver, II, Gerald E. Connolly, Jim Costa, Joe Courtney, TJ Cox, Angie Craig, Charlie Crist, Jason Crow, Danny K. Davis, Susan Davis, Madeleine Dean, Diana DeGette, Suzan Delbene, Val Demings, Mark DeSaulnier, Lloyd Doggett, Mike Doyle, Anna G. Eshoo, Dwight Evans, Abby Finkenauer, Lizzie Fletcher, Bill Foster, Ruben Gallego, John Garamendi, Sylvia Garcia, Jimmy Gomez, Deb Haaland, Alcee L. Hastings, Jahana Hayes, Denny Heck, Brian Higgins, Jim Himes, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Steven Horsford, Jared Huffman, Sheila Jackson Lee, Pramila Jayapal, Marcy Kaptur, Robin L. Kelly, Marcia L. Fudge, Joseph P. Kennedy, III, Derek Kilmer, Andy Kim, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ann McLane Kuster, Conor Lamb, James R. Langevin, Rick Larsen, John B. Larson, Brenda L. Lawrence, Mike Levin, Andy Levin, Daniel W. Lipinski, Dave Loebsack, Alan Lowenthal, Stephen F. Lynch, Tom Malinowski, Sean Patrick Maloney, Doris Matsui, Betty McCollum, A. Donald McEachin, Jerry McNerney, Kweisi Mfume, Gwen Moore, Joseph D. Morelle, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Grace F. Napolitano, Tom O'Halleran, Ilhan Omar, Jimmy Panetta, Chris Pappas, Bill Pascrell, Jr., Donald M. Payne, Jr., Ed Perlmutter, Chellie Pingree, Stacey E. Plaskett, Mark Pocan, Ayanna Pressley, David Price, Mike Quigley, Kathleen Rice, Cedric Richmond, Max Rose, Harley Rouda, Dutch Ruppersberger, Bobby L. Rush, Tim Ryan, Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Linda T. Sánchez, John P. Sarbanes, Mary Gay Scanlon, Jan Schakowsky, Brad Schneider, David Scott, José Serrano, Donna E. Shalala, Brad Sherman, Mikie Sherrill, Albio Sires, Elissa Slotkin, Jackie Speier, Greg Stanton, Thomas R. Suozzi, Mike Thompson, Dina Titus, Rashida Tlaib, Paul D. Tonko, Norma J. Torres, Lori Trahan, David Trone, Marc Veasey, Filemon Vela, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Peter Welch, Jennifer Wexton, Susan Wild, Frederica S. Wilson.