Peters: Unless Postal Service Service Changes Are Eliminated, ‘We Could Lose This Critical Lifeline’

During Friday’s Democratic Weekly Address, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI) stated that unless service changes to the Postal Service are overturned, “we could lose this critical lifeline that so many Americans count on each and every day.”

Transcript as Follows: 

“Hello, I’m Gary Peters. I proudly represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate.

I also serve as the Ranking Member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees the U.S. Postal Service.

Over the last few weeks, I have heard alarming reports from my constituents in Michigan about serious delays in mail deliveries.

Veterans, small businesses, seniors, and rural residents have told my office about unexpected delays as they wait for their medicine, paychecks, bills and even mail-in ballots to arrive.

Postal workers, mail handlers, letter carriers are all committed to getting the mail out every day – and they have shared stories of mail piling up in ways they have never seen before.

For more than 245 years, the Postal Service has carried on a tradition of reliable, on-time delivery.

Dedicated postal workers and letter carriers over the years have delivered mail through wars – through hurricanes – through rain and snow. And they’ve always done it on time.

Last week, after the new Postmaster General refused to give me clear answers about the causes of these delays, I launched an investigation.

I’m working to find out what changes are causing these delays – and why were they put into place in the first place.

As part of my investigation, I want to know about how families and small businesses across the country are affected.

If you have experienced an unexpected delay in your mail delivery, you can share that information with my office by going to www.peters.senate.gov/postal.

Your story will help us protect the Postal Service and fix the delivery service problems that far too many Americans are now experiencing.

The Postal Service is the only carrier that delivers to every address in the United States – no matter how remote.

And unless we work together to overturn these service changes, we could lose this critical lifeline that so many Americans count on each and every day.

I hope you will join me in shining a light on how these disruptions impact your life. Together we can ensure the Postal Service will continue to provide steady, reliable service for generations to come.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett