Hawai‘i Congressional Delegation Calls Postmaster General to “Preserve USPS Lifeline”

United States Post Office, Wailuku, Hawaiʻi. Photo by Wendy Osher.

Hawai’i’s congressional delegation called on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to reverse and suspend further changes to the US Postal Service’s operations, which they say have caused “widespread service delays.”

In a letter sent to the postmaster on Thursday, Hawai’i’s congressional delegation emphasized the state’s dependence on the postal service for prompt deliveries of food, medicine and other goods.

Senators Mazie K. Hirono and Brian Schatz, and Representatives Tulsi Gabbard and Ed Case wrote to the Postmaster General, requesting and immediate reversal of changes that they say “have led to service delays for Hawaiʻi mail,” and suspend further changes to US Postal Service operations until there is no longer a nationally declared public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The delegation also expressed alarm at the Postmaster General’s confirmation that he is considering price increases for service in Hawaiʻi, Alaska and the US territories.

“We are especially alarmed that proposed additional changes may increase mail delivery costs for Hawaiʻi in particular,” the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers continued, “These service delays have the potential of affecting the 120,000 veterans in Hawaiʻi, especially the 50,000 who receive their medication through the mail from the Veteran’s Health Administration. Hawaiʻi’s small business owners, who have already been impacted by COVID-19 are now having to work around delayed supplies or deal with late deliveries to customers. We have also heard from several constituents who were not able to cast their ballot and vote in Hawaiʻi’s primary election on Aug. 8, 2020, as some ballots took weeks to reach the voter or did not arrive at all.”