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Letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy - Pelosi, Maloney Joined by 192 House Democrats in Calling on Postmaster General to Reverse Assault on Postal Service

Letter

By: Gwen Moore, Ron Kind, Mark Pocan, Denny Heck, Adam Smith, Kim Schrier, Pramila Jayapal, Derek Kilmer, Rick Larsen, Suzan DelBene, Peter Welch, Stacey Plaskett, Gerry Connolly, Jennifer Wexton, Don Beyer, Jr., Donald McEachin, Bobby Scott, Lloyd Doggett II, Filemon Vela, Jr., Marc Veasey, Colin Allred, Eddie Johnson, Joaquin Castro, Sheila Jackson Lee, Veronica Escobar, Lizzie Fletcher, Steve Cohen, Jim Cooper, Jim Clyburn, Jim Langevin, David Cicilline, Mike Doyle, Jr., Conor Lamb, GT Thompson, Jr., Matt Cartwright, Susan Wild, Chrissy Houlahan, Mary Scanlon, Madeleine Dean, Dwight Evans, Brendan Boyle, Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Tim Ryan, Marcia Fudge, Marcy Kaptur, Brian Higgins, Joe Morelle, Paul Tonko, Sean Maloney, Nita Lowey, Eliot Engel, José Serrano, Carolyn Maloney, Max Rose, Jerry Nadler, Hakeem Jeffries, Nydia Velázquez, Grace Meng, Gregory Meeks, Kathleen Rice, Thomas Suozzi, Steven Horsford, Dina Titus, Ben Lujan, Jr., Deb Haaland, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Mikie Sherrill, Don Payne, Jr., Bill Pascrell, Jr., Albio Sires, Tom Malinowski, Frank Pallone, Jr., Joshua Gottheimer, Andy Kim, Donald Norcross, Annie Kuster, Chris Pappas, Alma Adams, David Price, Bennie Thompson, Kilili Sablan, Emanuel Cleaver II, Ilhan Omar, Betty McCollum, Dean Phillips, Angie Craig, Brenda Lawrence, Rashida Tlaib, Debbie Dingell, Andy Levin, Elissa Slotkin, Dan Kildee, Chellie Pingree, Jamie Raskin, Kweisi Mfume, David Trone, Steny Hoyer, Anthony Brown, John Sarbanes, Dutch Ruppersberger, Bill Keating, Stephen Lynch, Ayanna Pressley, Katherine Clark, Joe Kennedy III, Lori Trahan, Jim McGovern, Richard Neal, Cedric Richmond, John Yarmuth, Sharice Davids, André Carson, Cheri Bustos, Bill Foster, Brad Schneider, Jan Schakowsky, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Danny Davis, Sean Casten, Dan Lipinski, Robin Kelly, Bobby Rush, Cindy Axne, Dave Loebsack, Abby Finkenauer, Ed Case, David Scott, Sanford Bishop, Jr., Donna Shalala, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Frederica Wilson, Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, Alcee Hastings, Sr., Kathy Castor, Charlie Crist, Jr., Val Demings, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Eleanor Norton, Jahana Hayes, Jim Himes, Joe Courtney, John Larson, Ed Perlmutter, Jason Crow, Joe Neguse, Diana DeGette, Susan Davis, Mike Levin, Harley Rouda, Alan Lowenthal, Katie Porter, Nanette Barragán, Maxine Waters, Mark Takano, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Gil Cisneros, Linda Sánchez, Raul Ruiz, Norma Torres, Jimmy Gomez, Ted Lieu, Grace Napolitano, Pete Aguilar, Brad Sherman, Tony Cárdenas, Adam Schiff, Judy Chu, Julia Brownley, Mike Garcia, Salud Carbajal, Jimmy Panetta, Zoe Lofgren, Anna Eshoo, Ro Khanna, Eric Swalwell, Jackie Speier, Barbara Lee, Mark DeSaulnier, Jerry McNerney, Doris Matsui, John Garamendi, Jared Huffman, Greg Stanton, Ruben Gallego, Raul Grijalva, Tom O'Halleran, Nancy Pelosi
Date: Aug. 12, 2020
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Government Operations Health and Health Care

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,


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