Postal Service Disruptions

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, almost a year ago, I spoke here about the delays in our postal system, and a year later the calls to our office have not stopped. In fact, they have gotten more frequent and more frantic.

Since the start of this year, 50 percent of all the phone calls our office has received are about disruptions in the Postal Service. These are from seniors whose essential medications and Social Security checks were over 2 weeks delayed; folks with missing credit card statements, Medicare cards, past due still undelivered bills accruing interest that they can't pay because their paycheck hasn't come in; small business owners reliant on the mail who are completely unable to operate.

Now, to be sure, the pandemic contributes to some of this. It has increased demand on the mail system, even as postal workers are staying home, quarantining, looking after loved ones. While leaders in the private sector have adapted to this moment, Postmaster DeJoy has responded to this by eliminating overtime, closing mail processing facilities, and removing mail sorting machines. He has made things worse.

Now, in the private sector we would fix that. A corporate board wouldn't tolerate it. They would hold this man to account. That hasn't happened because we still don't have a fully staffed Postal Board of Governors thanks to the Senate's failure to confirm President Biden's nominations. This is no way to run a business. It is no way to treat the American people.

The Postal Service needs leaders as committed to public service as our letter carriers and mail handlers. Frankly, so does the U.S. Senate. It is time for them to act, to confirm these nominees and ensure the post office has a fully staffed and fully functioning board.

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