Emanuel Cleaver: It's time to hold the U. S. Postal Service accountable for mail delivery delays

(From Fifth District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver)

As you know, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) plays a pivotal role in every community, helping seniors get life-saving medications, shipping products for small businesses, and ensuring families can get the materials they need in a timely manner. 

Unfortunately, since Postmaster General DeJoy was appointed by the former president and began enacting his Delivering for America Plan, my office has received an influx of calls from constituents frustrated with subpar service.

Despite multiple efforts to ensure the Postal Service is providing reliable mail delivery, my office continues to receive complaints about ongoing mail delivery delays across Western Missouri. In fact, according to an audit from the Inspector General, which was conducted following complaints from Rep. Graves and me, Kansas City ranks sixth worst in national mail delivery performance.

That's completely unacceptable--and why I recently teamed up with Reps. Sharice Davids (D-KS), Sam Graves (R-MO), Mark Alford (R-MO), and Jake LaTurner (R-KS) to call for immediate reforms to the USPS provided by the Inspector General's audit report.

A stable, consistent, and responsive Postal Service is not a Republican or Democratic issue -- it's an essential function of government that hardworking families rely on and have come to expect over the past two centuries. I will not stop pushing the Postmaster General to fix the problems he has created with his Delivering for America Plan until Missourians are satisfied.

Find more information on my work to hold the USPS accountable here.