Billy Long: Nancy Pelosi manufactured Postal Service crisis (his packages arrived on time)

(From Seventh District Congressman Billy Long)

On Friday, August 21st, I had the occasion to mail three small boxes in Springfield, Missouri, two were going 1,100 miles and one was going 500 miles. I was assured that for the normal First Class Postage of $5.25 each I could expect them to be delivered on Monday August 24th. 

With all I’ve seen and read recently about how slow and gummed up the postal service is, I thought, “yeah, right.” I was surprised it only cost $5.25 each to mail them and figured they might make it in a week, but certainly not in less than 72 hours. Guess what? 

All three arrived at their destination on Monday, August 24 as promised. I have always been a strong supporter of the US Postal Service (USPS); I believe they provide a critical service to the American people, especially in rural areas like much of Missouri’s 7th Congressional District. 

When they tried to stop Saturday deliveries, I knew many of my constituents relied on six-day delivery to receive their medications, so I fought against it. 

Next they were threatening to shutter smaller post offices in my district which would have forced many hard-working taxpayers and elderly citizens to drive several miles to mail a package or pick up their medications - I said no way! 

When they wanted to move the mail handling facility out of Springfield, I attended a very heated and contentious public meeting and did everything I knew how to do to prevent it. I have consistently worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass legislation that actually helped the USPS. My record speaks for itself, and I will continue to offer my support to the USPS when it is legitimately warranted. 

This time around it was a horse of a different color. Last weekend, Speaker Pelosi called members back to Washington for an “emergency” vote, but it was not for a much needed COVID-19 relief package that Americans have been anticipating and waiting for. 

Instead, Pelosi hosted a rare Saturday vote for a manufactured crisis that’s nothing more than a thinly veiled messaging strategy she and other House Democrats will use to scare Americans into believing their mail and absentee ballots may not arrive on schedule. Unfortunately for Pelosi and Congressional Democrats, the facts paint a far different picture.

Contrary to the Democrats’ assertions, President Trump is not “defunding” the USPS as it is a largely self-funding, independent agency that typically doesn’t rely on Congress for financial support, and while Democratic Members of Congress were theatrically chaining themselves to mailboxes so they’re not removed, the Postal Service has routinely moved mailboxes that received little use for decades; the Obama administration removed more than 14,000. 

The Coronavirus has affected the USPS just as it has affected industries across the nation, but the horror stories circulating about mail delivery are mostly anecdotal and exaggerated by the press. 

Even amid a global pandemic, a June financial report issued by the USPS indicates that they are fiscally viable until at least August of 2021, long after the presidential election takes place. What’s more, Congress recently included $10 billion of borrowing power in the COVID-19 relief packages for the Postal Service, but the USPS has yet to draw on it because they simply do not need the funds. 

In fact, the USPS reported that they have $13 billion cash on hand. Despite Democrats’ hysterics, the USPS is not in dire financial straits and does not urgently need $25 billion in funding.

Democrats would also have you believe that the USPS will be overrun by mail-in ballots and that yours could possibly get lost in the mail and go uncounted, but simple math would tell you otherwise. 

The Postal Service successfully processes and delivers 470 million pieces of mail a day – over 2.7 billion pieces of mail every week. The USPS is more than capable of handling an increase of mail volume due to mail-in voting.

We have pressing matters that should be brought before the House rather than a manufactured crisis, but Congressional Democrats are too busy blocking bills that would bring critical relief for Americans actively struggling due to COVID-19. 

The facts are clearly not on their side here, and this bill is nothing more than partisan fear mongering at its finest. The Democrats are trying to sell some ocean front property in Arizona, but unfortunately for them, the American people just aren’t buying it.