Casten slams delays in mail delivery

Casten delivers speech calling for action on postal delays devastating Illinois Seniors, Families and small businesses

U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) delivered remarks Thursday on the House floor on the ongoing postal delays impacting seniors, veterans, businesses and constituents in Illinois’ 6th District.

Casten said, “Since the start of this year, 50% of all the phone calls are us has received are about disruptions in the Postal Service.

These are from seniors whose essential medications and Social Security checks were over two weeks delayed: Folks with missing credit card statements, missing Medicare cards, past due, undelivered bills accruing interest that they can’t pay because their paycheck hasn’t come yet. Small business owners reliant on the mail who are completely unable to operate.”

Casten continued, “This is no way to run a business and it’s no way to treat the American people. The Postal Service needs leaders as committed to public service as the letter carriers and mail handlers who’ve doubled down – in spite of this assault from their leadership in – to deliver for Americans through rain, sleet and snow. It’s time for the Senate to act to confirm President Biden’s nominees and ensure Post Office as a fully staffed and fully functioning board.”

In October, Casten joined Reps. Mike Quigley (IL-05) and Gerald E. Connolly, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations for a press conference with Members of the Illinois congressional delegation to address the dramatic reductions in U.S. Postal Service delivery performance in Chicago and across the country. Since last February, Casten has been a leader calling for oversight of what he calls Postmaster Dejoy’s “deliberate attempt to weaken and ultimately privatize the post office – to make people who depend on the postal service frustrated enough to finish the destruction he has initiated.”

Congressman Sean Casten slams delayed US Postal Service in response to increased complaints from postal customers

To watch Casten’s Floor Speech, click here, or use the widget below to view the speech

Transcript of Remarks:

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’ve gotten more frequent and even more frantic.

Since the start of this year, 50% of all the phone calls are us has received are about disruptions in the Postal Service. These are from seniors whose essential medications and Social Security checks were over two weeks delayed.

Folks with missing credit card statements, missing Medicare cards, past due, undelivered bills accruing interest that they can’t pay because their paycheck hasn’t come yet. 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’s increased demand on the mail system even as postal workers are staying home, quarantining looking after loved ones. But 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. Corporate board wouldn’t tolerate it. They’d 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 and it’s no way to treat the American people. The Postal Service needs leaders as committed to public service as our letter carriers and mail handlers are, and frankly, so does the US Senate. It’s time for them to act to confirm these nominees and ensure Post Office as a fully staffed and fully functioning board.

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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