FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán voted to protect her constituents who depend on the U.S. Postal Service for critical deliveries like their prescriptions, Social Security benefits, paychecks, absentee ballots and so much more.
“President Trump has been trying to sabotage the Postal Service for his own political gain and it is disgraceful. The Delivering for America Act will provide the critical funding the president has been blocking and will prevent the damaging changes his Postmaster General has been implementing to reduce postal services and delay the delivery of mail,” Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán said.
“As people in Los Angeles County know all too well, the Postal Service is under attack,” Rep. Barragán continued. “I’ve heard from older Americans who have had their prescription deliveries delayed by up to two weeks. I’ve heard from small business owners who have had payments delayed so they are at risk of missing rent or payroll. I’ve heard from immigrants who have had important citizenship documents delayed in the mail. I’ve heard from constituents who are waiting on Social Security or Unemployment benefits or paychecks they desperately need.
“USPS is a literal lifeline to so many people. This Administration is willing to sacrifice people’s needs and their right to vote to settle political scores and interfere in an election.”
In part, the Delivering for America Act would:
- Prohibit closing, consolidating, or reducing the hours of any post office or postal facility until January 2021;
- Prevent any change that would have the effect of delaying mail or increasing the volume of undelivered mail;
- Forbid the removal of mailboxes and the removal, decommissioning, or other stoppage of mail sorting machines, other than for routine maintenance;
- Require the Postal Service to treat all official election mail as First-Class mail;
- Provide $25 billion for the Postal Service that will help USPS serve the American people during this pandemic.
The $25 billion was requested unanimously by the USPS Board of Governors, which is composed of 100 Percent Trump appointees. Still, President Trump has admitted in television interviews that he is blocking this assistance for USPS.
Since Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was appointed in June, some of the changes made to hamper mail service include:
- The Removal of Critical Mail Sorting Machines. In July, reporters obtained an internal Postal Service memorandum that stated that, under DeJoy, the Postal Service had begun the process of removing 671 key mail sorting machines. Before DeJoy announced a pause on some of the changes, many of these sorting machines had already been removed or dismantled.
- The Removal of Mailboxes. Also in July, Americans began reporting that they were witnessing local mailboxes being removed in their neighborhoods.
- Drastic Reduction in Availability of Overtime. Another step that DeJoy implemented was drastically reducing the availability of overtime for Postal Service employees, directly causing delays in delivery.
- Sending Notices to 46 States That Even If Voters Followed State Deadlines, Their Ballots Might Not Arrive in Time to Be Counted. In late July, the Postal Service sent out notices to 46 states and the District of Columbia that voters could potentially be at risk that their ballots might not be delivered in time to be counted, even if they met the deadlines set by states to send in their ballots.
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Nanette Diaz Barragán is proud to represent California’s 44th Congressional District, which includes the communities of Carson, Compton, Florence-Firestone, Lynwood, North Long Beach, Rancho Dominguez, San Pedro, South Gate, Walnut Park, Watts, Willowbrook and Wilmington