U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) says the U.S. Postal Service needs to do a better job, especially in rural areas.
Peters is Chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which held a hearing on oversight of the Postal Service Tuesday.
He says the elimination of overnight delivery service in the U.P. and plans to move mail processing from Iron Mountain to Green Bay are unacceptable.
“That means mail going to, even within the Upper Peninsula, from one U.P. town to another, has to go through Wisconsin before it gets back to the U.P.,” Peters said.
Peters says veterans depend on the mail for their prescription medication, and water testing agencies must get samples tested within 24 hours.
“They need to have real quick turnaround. In fact, they need next-day delivery for those tests to be valid, and it’s critical that the Post Office is actually able to deliver that next-day delivery so that those tests can be validated,” Peters said.
The Democratic Senator convened the hearing with USPS officials, including Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, to examine service changes and their impact to communities across the country.
He says the Postal Service has not been as transparent as it needs to be, particularly when it comes to rural regions.
Peters asked DeJoy to outline how changes in service are impacting communities. DeJoy pledged to put any future changes on hold.
