WASHINGTON--Today Congressman Kweisi Mfume (MD-07) and other members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee held a hearing on proposed legislation to rectify the financial challenges and inexcusable performance of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
In his exchange with Postmaster General Louis Dejoy, Congressman Mfume detailed the devastating impacts that the disassembling of sorting machines, removal of neighborhood mailboxes, and the denial of postal workers overtime requests are having on mail service.
The Congressman also discussed the devastating impacts that mail delays have on his constituents, including but not limited to, late-arriving medicine and missing bills that result in late fees. On August 24th, the Congressman questioned Dejoy about mail service slow-downs during an Oversight hearing on the mail-in balloting process for the November elections. Months later, Representative Mfume says that previous exchange has resulted in nothing more than "empty words" and "empty mailboxes."
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Click here to watch Congressman Mfume's full exchange with Postmaster General Louis Dejoy |
During today's hearing, the Oversight Committee proposed various legislative reforms to help relieve USPS of its financial strain and increase the agency's transparency. The proposals include:
● Requiring the Postal Service to set targets for service performance and to report on its progress. Members hope additional monitoring will increase the Postal Service's transparency and accountability to the American people.
● Requiring postal employees to enroll in Medicare when they become eligible. This is estimated to save USPS roughly $10 billion over a ten-year period.
● Repealing the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act also known as PAEA (a requirement for the Postal Service to pre-fund retiree health care). Eliminating this requirement would eliminate the Postal Service's $35 billion debt liability.
"The hardworking women and men of the postal service deserve more from the leadership of the USPS. The unconscionable delays are attributed to arbitrary decisions by management. Enough is enough. We owe it to ourselves to pass meaningful legislation to ensure USPS can resolve its financial instability and restore the service standards our communities expect and deserve," Congressman Mfume said.