Rep. Schiff: It’s a Deliberate Effort To Sabotage the Postal Service

Rep. Adam Schiff in the middle with Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (R) and Darcel Cole Valenta (R) (Photo – Rep. Schiff office)

On Tuesday, August 18, 2020, Rep. Adam Schiff held a press conference outside the Downtown Burbank Post Office, and was joined by Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) and Darcel Cole Valenta, retired letter carrier and district liaison for California State Association of Letter Carriers.

By News Desk

In a letter to the community, Rep. Schiff highlighted how cuts in service instituted by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy are significantly delaying mail delivery and negatively impacting constituents, including veterans and local small business owners:

Every day, millions of Americans rely on the USPS – to receive medications, conduct business, stay in contact, and, beginning in just a few weeks, vote by mail. That’s why I voted on Saturday to protect the USPS from damaging delays and disruptions inflicted by the Trump Administration’s Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy.

Just when Americans need the USPS the most, the Postmaster General has ordered sweeping new restrictions limiting overtime, removing sorting machines, and removing collection boxes that are resulting in far worse service for Americans, sometimes disastrously so. I’ve heard from thousands of constituents, including a veteran who had to wait weeks for his VA medications to arrive, numerous small business owners who are losing money due to delays and lost packages, a man whose shipment of HIV medication was so delayed he had to dip into his emergency meds, and countless citizens who are worried their mail-in ballots won’t be counted this November.

With all of Trump’s attacks on vote by mail — something that is not only essential during a pandemic but also the way the President himself likes to vote — it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that this is a deliberate effort to sabotage the postal service.

But Congress is fighting back. The ‘Delivering for America Act’ will prohibit the Postmaster General from implementing any changes to operations or level of service it had in place on January 1, 2020 and provides $25 billion in critical funding to support the Postal Service.

Now it’s time for the Senate to act. With the presidential election just months away, and Americans relying on the Postal Service every single day, there’s no time to waste.