WILMINGTON, Del. — Today, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds the U.S. Postal Service, joined MSNBC’s Craig Melvin to discuss the upending of postal service operations and its impact on the delivery of mail-in ballots amid the COVID-19 health crisis, an effort that Senator Coons has led in the Senate.
When asked about the upcoming testimony of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in Senate and House committees, Senator Coons underscored the need to hear“what [Postmaster General DeJoy] has done, why he's done it, and a commitment that he will not just slow or tap the brakes on the ways in which he has politically interfered with delivery standards for the postal service, but that he’s going to throw this thing into reverse, and he will restore the delivery standards that he has interfered with.”
“The stories that I'm getting here in Delaware are from thousands of Delawareans who have called in to express their concern, their alarm; veterans who can't get their medications; senior citizens concerned about their Social Security checks. We had one veteran at a postal service event yesterday where our delegation expressed our concerns about delivery who said that he got the notification of a doctor's appointment with the V.A. after the appointment had already passed. I've also heard stories from several postal employees that there are seven bulk mail processing machines that have been disassembled, moved outside, and have now been outside in the rain for several days. That means this will be very difficult to reverse,” Senator Coons added.
Yesterday, Senator Coons joined Senator Tom Carper, Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester, and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings (all D-Del.) for a Day of Action to underscore the role of the U.S. Postal Service as an essential service to the people of the United States. Last week, Carper and Coons made an initial request urging USPS to fix delays and avoid cost increases for election mail. This week, the senators signed another letter that broadens the call for oversight over the issue of delays following changes made by the recently appointed postmaster general.
Full audio and video available here. A transcript is provided below.
Q: I'm joined now by Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware. Senator, as we just mentioned there, as Jeff just reported, the Postmaster General DeJoy suspending these changes until after the election. But as we understand it, those hearings are still going to happen; one on Friday and another on Monday. What do you hope to hear from the postmaster general on Friday that you haven't heard yet?
Sen. Coons: Well, Craig, what I think we should be demanding is full answers on what he’s done, why he's done it, and a commitment that he will not just slow or tap the brakes on the ways in which he has politically interfered with delivery standards for the postal service, but that he’s going to throw this thing into reverse, and he will restore the delivery standards that he has interfered with. The stories that I'm getting here in Delaware are from thousands of Delawareans who have called in to express their concern, their alarm; veterans who can't get their medications; senior citizens concerned about their Social Security checks. We had one veteran at a postal service event yesterday where our delegation expressed our concerns about delivery who said that he got the notification of a doctor's appointment with the V.A. after the appointment had already passed. I've also heard stories from several postal employees that there are seven bulk mail processing machines that have been disassembled, moved outside, and have now been outside in the rain for several days. That means this will be very difficult to reverse. If I could have gotten into our Quigley Boulevard mail handling facility yesterday as I asked for, I suspect I would have seen exactly the same images that you just showed from a New York facility: lots and lots of backed up mail, lots of delayed delivery. This is President Trump's effort to interfere with two of our central institutions in a democracy. One is a functioning nationwide modern postal service. The other is reliable elections.
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