[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 38 (Monday, March 1, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S918-S919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          U.S. Postal Service

  Mr. COONS. Madam President, it has long been said that ``neither snow 
nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays'' our U.S. postal ``couriers 
from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.'' These words, in 
fact, are chiseled in granite above the entrance to the post office on 
8th Avenue in New York City--one of the grandest post offices in our 
Nation. It is the adopted creed of the faithful and hard-working letter 
carriers and frontline workforce of our Postal Service.
  As I have said before, I have no beef with the men and women of our 
Postal Service, but I have real and deep concerns about how the Postal 
Service is being run under the current Postmaster General.
  President Biden doesn't get to choose a new Postmaster General just 
because he is the new President. In fact, the current officeholder, 
Louis DeJoy, was chosen by the Board under the previous administration.
  Weeks ago, I joined with many colleagues and with Chairman Peters of 
the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is 
responsible for the Postal Service, to send a letter to Postmaster 
General DeJoy to restore on-time delivery and stop the harmful 
systemwide changes that have caused unacceptable mail delays.
  Sadly, that is not the first time I have had to reach out, with 
Senators in this body, to the Postmaster General. In fact, on five 
separate occasions, we have written the Postmaster General, between 
August and February, last year to this year. We have demanded 
transparency. We have insisted on the restoration of mail sorting 
machines. We have asked for assistance with vote-by-mail deliveries and 
wrote for just simple answers to pending constituent inquiries.
  In my hometown of Wilmington, DE, last August, I joined our attorney 
general, Kathy Jennings, my senior Senator, Tom Carper, Congresswoman 
Lisa Blunt Rochester, and a series of union leaders for a day of action 
to save the Postal Service.
  A few days later, I drove myself to our mail distribution center in 
New Castle after leadership of the Postal Service denied my request to 
visit. Thanks to having been alerted by some frontline employees, I 
drove around back and was able to see a dismantled massive piece of 
mail handling equipment left outside in the rain.
  In January and February alone, my office received hundreds of 
messages from constituents complaining about mail issues. Since last 
April, I have heard from nearly 5,000 Delawareans--folks asking for 
robust funding for the Postal Service, wanting stronger vote-by-mail 
initiatives, and hundreds and hundreds of them reporting delays in the 
mail.
  I want to take a few minutes, if I might, and just go through some of 
these concerns I have heard, which, I have also heard from colleagues, 
are being replicated across our Nation.
  Gloria Lester, down in Lewes, in Sussex County, said that mail that 
previously took just 3 to 4 days is now taking her 4 to 6 weeks. Her 
bills are due before she even gets the statements. And her husband's VA 
medication took a month to arrive from the date they mailed it.
  Jim Nichols of Milford wrote concerned about the delay in getting his 
newspapers, his magazines, and his other periodicals.
  And Jim is not alone. I have heard from local and regional newspapers 
that rely on the Postal Service to deliver out-of-State and out-of-area 
subscribers.
  We have a beach area with a lot of homeowners who live here in our 
Nation's Capital or elsewhere throughout the region. And Chris Raush, 
who is with the Cape Gazette, which gets mailed to folks all over our 
region, told me some of their out-of-State subscribers don't receive 
the paper for a month, and then, when they do, they get a big bundle of 
old papers. And now with papers not showing up weeks at a time, they 
have had to tell subscribers this is just out of their control and 
offer refunds.
  Megan Stibbe, of the Delmarva Farmer, another local paper, said that 
she has ``been having a lot of trouble with Delaware deliveries. The 
postal system,'' as she said in writing to me, ``is very screwed up 
right now. Delmarva Farmers have not received their newspapers at all 
in January.''
  I have received dozens and dozens more emails, texts, letters, and 
phone messages from frustrated constituents.
  Dianne Boyle, of Magnolia, DE, felt so strongly about this ongoing 
debacle of delayed delivery in the Postal Service that she hand 
delivered her own letter of concern to my Dover office.
  Richard Bilkski of Selbyville, a gentleman with real and significant 
heart issues that require him to be on medication, was down to his very 
last pill on January 25. After calling and calling and calling, it 
turned out that his medication had been sitting in the Wilmington post 
office for 3 weeks.
  Toby Rubenstein, from Hockessin, wrote me and said:

       I have paid my bills by check all my life. [And now] the 
     Postal Service is so unreliable, that I now have monthly 
     problems paying [my] bills on time. [And] I'm not alone in 
     this.

  Claudette Richardson of Newark, DE, wrote me a note saying that she 
had mailed her sister a Christmas card on December 14, and it arrived 
February 12.
  Marcy Leib Rolmann wrote me and said: Our ``mail here in Sussex 
County as everywhere is horrible, despite our great letter carriers.''
  Geiana Hollis of Wilmington wrote to me last month because of her 
passport sitting idle at a Philadelphia distribution center for 10 
days. She was set to travel abroad and had to delay her trip.
  Bill Powers, former county councilman I know well from New Castle 
County, a member of the Farm Bureau, is a longtime turkey grower who 
now provides fresh eggs for local farmers markets. Bill has experienced 
significant losses with turkey and chick deliveries and called my 
office with concerns.
  And I want, before I close, to mention one last story, from Trebs 
Thompson, of Newark, an egg farmer with Whimsical Farms. Trebs wrote:

       Largely our postal system has been a jewel. It handles a 
     large volume of mail cheaply, with a high degree of speed and 
     accuracy. Many of us depend on it for government paperwork, 
     medications, orders, payments, and for farmers like me, seeds 
     [and] day-old chicks.
       The Post Office has been shipping day-old chicks to farms 
     like mine for over 100 years. Today, all 20 baby hens arrived 
     cold and lifeless. I cried [as I opened the box]. The 
     [postal] supervisor cried. The gentleman who normally 
     delivers my mail apologized profusely, but [it is] not his 
     fault.
       Whatever one feels about mail-in ballots or politics, I am 
     asking you to put this aside and do what you can to restore 
     the Postal Service.

  Trebs Thompson is right. No farmer should ever have to open a box of 
dead chicks. No constituent should have to hand deliver a letter to 
their Senator. Our veterans shouldn't be going without lifesaving 
medication.
  Postmaster DeJoy appeared before Members of the House last week and 
apologized for the slow mail delivery and said he has a forthcoming 
plan, which I am concerned includes further cuts to delivery service.
  So let me summarize. My understanding is that DeJoy's plans for the 
future of the Postal Service include higher prices and slower delivery. 
Delawareans are tired, and our Postal Service workers are tired, too, 
of the constraints placed on them. How will we solve this problem? In 
my view, we need to confirm as quickly as possible President Biden's 
nominees to the Postal Board of Governors: Ron Stroman, Amber 
McReynolds, and Anton Hajjar--all folks who have deep experience in the 
postal system. They could get us back on track.
  We also have to prioritize investments in the Postal Service. 
Congress secured $10 billion for the Postal Service in the unanimously 
passed CARES Act to provide the resources to maintain operation at a 
time when families are relying on mail service more than ever during 
this pandemic.
  I will continue to support the Postal Service. I will continue to 
petition the Postmaster General, and I won't stop until there is a 
solution to this critical and pressing issue. Our letter carriers

[[Page S919]]

and our customers shouldn't suffer because of toxic leadership at the 
highest levels of our Postal Service.
  I yield the floor to my colleague from the State of Maine.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.