Aguilar visits USPS San Bernardino Processing and Distribution Center to call for action to protect postal service

Today, Representative Aguilar visited the USPS San Bernardino Mail Processing and Distribution Center with local postal union leaders to call on the Senate and President Trump to pass the Delivering for America Act into law. The bill, which would fund the $25 billion requested by the USPS to address their funding shortfall and would ban the Postal Service from making any changes to their operations or service levels, is set to pass the House of Representatives on Saturday.

“The Postal Service is a pillar of our democracy, enshrined in the Constitution and essential for providing critical services. Seniors and veterans need the USPS to deliver prescriptions, taxpayers need the USPS to mail and receive their tax returns, small businesses rely on USPS to reach their customers and voters across the country need the USPS to cast their ballots. But the Trump Administration, led by the new Postmaster General DeJoy, are waging war on the postal service by eliminating overtime, pulling mail sorting machines out of service and cutting or reshuffling experienced USPS leadership. That is why I am returning to Washington to cast my vote for the Delivering for America Act and why we need the Senate and the president to sign this bill into law,” said Aguilar. “I thank the postal union leaders for their service and for standing with me to call out this coordinated attempt to erode our postal system that our community depends on,” he continued.

Omar Gonzalez, the Western Regional Coordinator, American Postal Workers Union, said “As American civil servants, we take pride in the service we provide to our fellow Americans. Too many of our coworkers have been affected by the deadly virus and the rest of us report to duty to deliver for the American people as essential workers. We deliver through storms, earthquakes, fires, civil unrest, and even pandemics and we do not need any obstacles to keep us from our appointed duties. We have the capacity as postal workers to deliver millions of pieces of mail every day. It’s what we do. We should not have to face any deliberate actions or operational changes that undermine our service. The Post Office is not a business, it is a service. It is the United States Postal Service and it belongs to the people. We thank Congressman Aguilar for going back to the House to act on behalf of all Americans to pass the Delivering for America Act to ensure the Postal Service stays strong and delivers the US mail as envisioned by our Founding Fathers to bind our nation together.”

Eddie Cowan, President of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, Local 303, said “The mail handlers and the postal employees take the mission of the universal service and timely processing of the mail very seriously. Whether we are processing critical prescriptions or checks, birthday cards or ballots, there is no justification for unreasonable delays of the mail. There’s no reason to remove processing equipment at a critical time right before our elections.”

Residents of the Inland Empire have been experiencing interruptions of their mail in recent weeks, including seniors and veterans who have reported experiencing delays receiving their prescription drugs.

According to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, in 2019 the Postal Service:

• Delivered 142.6 billion pieces of mail to 160 million addresses in America.
• Delivered 1.2 billion prescriptions, including most of the medications ordered by the VA.
• Employed 633,108 of our friends and neighbors, including more than 100,000 veterans.
• Served 70% of businesses with fewer than ten employees.
• Had a 90% favorability rating, making it the most popular federal agency.