Emanuel Cleaver

09/17/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/17/2024 08:03

Rep. Cleaver, KC-Area Colleagues Unite Across Party Lines to Address USPS Mail Delivery Delays

(Kansas City, MO)- Today, U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO-05), Jake LaTurner (R-KS-02), Sharice Davids (D-KS-03), Mark Alford (R-MO-04), and Sam Graves (R-MO-06) united in a bipartisan effort to address mail delivery delays in the Kansas City area. The group calledon U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to act on a recent audit'srecommendations, which identified staffing shortages and inadequate management oversight as key factors contributing to the delays in the Kansas City area.

"In recent months, our offices have received a growing number of messages from Kansans and Missourians concerned about missing mail, delayed postal delivery, and extended periods with no delivery service at all," wrote the lawmakers. "The USPS Office of the Inspector General identified clear deficiencies…and identified numerous other issues related to the safety and security of personnel in this audit."

Conducted by the independent USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG), the recent audit examined operations at the Kansas City Postal and Distribution Center following reportsof some of the nation's slowest mail service in the nation. The audit identified several deficiencies, including delays in mail delivery, issues with package scanning, and poor property conditions. In response, Davids and her colleagues are calling on the USPS to promptly implement the OIG's recommended solutions.

"It is unacceptable that these facilities have fallen and are failing to keep up with the USPS standard of service. We wholeheartedly urge the leadership of the Postal Service to roll out the recommendations of the USPS Office of the Inspector General immediately to improve the service of the USPS in the Kansas City Metro area for our constituents." Cleaver and his colleagues continued.

A full copy of the letter can be found here.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Greenwood, Blue Springs, North Kansas City, Gladstone, and Claycomo. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.