[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 13 (Thursday, January 20, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       POSTAL SERVICE DISRUPTIONS

  (Mr. CASTEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  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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