US Senator McCaskill calls for study on access to broadband and postal services in rural areas

US Senator Claire McCaskill has requested an examination of the interaction between the lack of adequate access to broadband technology in rural areas of the US and the reliability of US Postal Service delivery. Senator McCaskill, who represents the state of Missouri, said in a statement posted on Monday (27 July): “Without efficient and effective mail service as a result of recent Postal Service consolidations, rural Missourians are put at an economic and communications disadvantage, the effects of which haven’t yet been properly studied.”

The Missouri Senator is working with Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota on this issue.

According to a joint letter from the two senators: “Broadband has been a disruptive technology that has allowed people to communicate anytime from anywhere for both personal and professional reasons. But too many rural communities in this country still lack adequate access to broadband, and they rely on the Postal Service for their global connectivity.”

As previously reported, Senator Heitkamp recently sponsored the Rural Postal Act, a bill which aims to “improve postal service, delivery times, and standards in rural communities that have been disproportionately affected by cuts to the Postal Service”.  Senator McCaskill has backed this bill, and earlier this year co-hosted a bipartisan roundtable on rural postal issues.