U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, announced that he sent a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy demanding answers about unacceptably long mail delays in southeast and south-central Missouri.
(Click here to read the letter).
“From Social Security checks and veterans benefits to prescription medications and utility bills, mail is a lifeline for so many people in southern Missouri, especially those in rural areas,” said Smith. “For years, I’ve fought to hold the U.S. Postal Service accountable for its poor decisions that continue to fuel the rural mail crisis. I strongly opposed USPS shutting down post offices in southern Missouri and consolidating mail processing facilities because it would negatively impact service and lead to incredibly long delays.”
In the letter, Smith, chairman of the House Means and Ways Committee, notes that constituents have faced significant mail delays since the U.S. Postal Service shut down the Cape Girardeau Processing and Distribution Facility and moved mail sorting operations to the St. Louis Processing and Distribution Center in February 2022. In numerous cases, mail has been lost or is being delivered days, weeks or even months late. As a result, individuals are having their utilities shut off because they didn’t get their bills on time and are going without needed medications because they are lost in the mail.
Smith continued, “USPS officials in Washington continue to show a complete disregard for the harm the delays are causing and refuse to take action to address the serious concerns of constituents and local postal service employees. I will continue demanding answers and accountability from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, and I will keep fighting tooth and nail to bring an end to the crisis the agency created.”
In 2021, Smith and a bipartisan group of his colleagues sent a letter demanding DeJoy pause any additional postal facility consolidations.
Sometimes it isn’t that the consolation of distributing offices are the problem. One of the biggest problems is that there’s a militaristic union. Employees do more to get out of work than they actually would have just doing their job. They’ll walk around pissing and moaning about their jobs and then claim that isn’t their job then they’ll file bogus grievances against management because someone else did their job. It’s a fun place to work. So glad I’m not dealing with that nonsense anymore.