The reliable delivery of mail in the greater Kansas City, Mo., area isn’t happening as required by law and U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) wants to know why.
“I’ve long supported our postal workers and the dedication they have to delivering the mail on time, but it’s clear there’s a leadership problem somewhere in the chain of command and Missourians deserve some answers,” Rep. Graves said on Tuesday.
In a bipartisan Oct. 11 letter Rep. Graves sent to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the congressman and his colleague U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) expressed concern that the United States Postal Service (USPS) is “inadequately prepared” to perform its congressionally mandated duty to deliver mail six days a week.
“After significant financial relief from Congress, and recently reported $60 billion net profit, the USPS should be prepared to carry out their mandate to reliably deliver the mail six days per week,” the congressmen wrote.
“Missourians from all walks of life depend on the United States Postal Service to deliver the mail six days a week,” added Rep. Graves in a statement. “It doesn’t matter if you live in downtown Kansas City, in the suburbs, or in rural North Missouri, folks depend on the mail to get prescriptions, bills, and other important documents in a timely manner. The failure of the agency to live up to its core promise… is unconscionable.”
In April, President Joe Biden signed into law the Postal Service Reform Act, H.R. 3076, which mandated that the USPS maintain its current level of service to communities, including reliable six-day mail delivery with few exceptions, according to the lawmakers’ letter.
“While we were encouraged to see this language codified into law, we have heard multiple disparaging reports in the Kansas City, Missouri region about constituents receiving their mail far fewer than six days per week,” Rep. Graves and his colleague wrote.
“To alleviate their concerns,” the lawmakers requested that DeJoy respond to several questions, including whether the USPS has received internal or external reports of significant failures to uphold its six-day mail delivery; what its plan is to achieve reliable six-day mail delivery in all regions of the country; and what barriers exist to meeting the requirement of law.