The U.S. Postal Service is an essential institution in our country. It’s not a partisan institution – in fact, it brings us together. The post office serves everyone: rural and urban, seniors, veterans, and small businesses.
Ohioans depend on the Postal Service to get their paychecks and their packages and their prescription drugs. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs fills about 80 percent of its prescriptions through a mail-order program, delivering 120 million prescriptions a year. Ohioans rely on mail-order prescriptions more per capita than any other state in the country.
My office has received thousands of calls and letters over the summer from Ohioans who are worried about this. They see the frightening pictures of mailboxes being taken away from their communities. They’re angry and they’re scared.
That’s why I’ve demanded the Trump Administration reverse its harmful changes – not just put a hold on new disruptions.
The agency’s new ban on overtime has led to undelivered mail, even in rural areas. Some Ohio households can go days without receiving any mail. Small businesses – which are already struggling because of the pandemic – have called my office to report that their outgoing packages are not being delivered to customers on time.
Mail handlers have also reported to our office that there are numerous decommissioned sorting machines at various locations around Ohio, including at least one working machine that has been dismantled and part of it put in a dumpster.
It’s unacceptable.
That is why I’m calling on Postmaster General DeJoy to resign. It’s clear he can’t do the job effectively. We need new leadership at USPS, and we need emergency funding to help the Postal Service get through this pandemic and handle election mail in November.
I’ve called on Mitch McConnell to end his summer vacation and bring the Senate back, to let us do our jobs. Funding for the Postal Service must be part of that effort.
In the largest, most advanced economy in the world, people ought to be able to depend on getting their mail delivered. It’s time to remedy this problem now.
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) represents the state in the U.S. Senate.
