Bernie Sanders calls for USPS to “reinstate overnight mail delivery standards”
Bernie Sanders, the Independent US Senator for Vermont who is challenging Hillary Clinton in the battle to be the Democrats’ presidential candidate, has sent an open letter to US Postmaster General Megan Brennan urging the Postal Service to “reinstate overnight mail delivery standards in light of a recent report finding significant delays in the delivery of mail”. As previously reported by Post&Parcel, the United States Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found recently that since the Postal Service changed overnight delivery standards in January, there has been a significant increase in the time it takes to process mail.
In his letter sent to Brennan yesterday (26 August), Senator Sanders wrote: “It is abundantly clear that the Postal Service’s decision to shut down more than 140 mail processing plants a few years ago and to eliminate overnight delivery standards this year has been a disaster that is negatively impacting Americans all over this country.
“I would urge the Postal Service to reinstate overnight delivery standards and speed up the delivery of mail as soon as possible.”
Sanders also announced that he will reintroduce the Postal Service Protection Act which – he claims – “fixes the immediate fiscal problem of the Postal Service by ending a disastrous Bush-era mandate to pre-fund 75 years of retiree health benefits over a 10-year period; establishes new ways the Postal Service can generate revenue; prevents the closing of rural post offices; protects 6-day delivery; and protects mail processing facilities”.
Click here to access the full text of Senator Sanders’ letter to the Postmaster General, Megan Brennan.
