New Hampshire Congressional Delegation gathers to support USPS

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U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) on Aug. 25. Credit/Andrew Sylvia

MANCHESTER, N.H. – New Hampshire’s congressional delegation gathered at the Manchester Post Office with members of New Hampshire’s American Postal Workers Union (APWU) on Tuesday morning to protest recent actions by President Trump and U.S Postal Service Postmaster Louis DeJoy they say have threatened the future of the U.S Postal Service (USPS).

The four elected officials spoke at length along with APWU representatives about the importance of the USPS, concerns from constituents over delays in deliveries of vital medicine, and preserving confidence in the only government agency explicitly mentioned in the U.S. Constitution.

Prior to the event, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan took a tour of the facility, following her grilling of DeJoy last week over the removal of on-site sorting machines that have now been scrapped. Like the rest of the delegation, she praised postal workers and feared that Trump and DeJoy’s recent actions to remove sorting machines without a plan to replace them as an effort to sabotage the USPS and sow mistrust in U.S. citizens seeking to mail-in ballots this fall. In particular, Hassan highlighted a pledge by DeJoy to prioritize election-related mail without offering a plan to guarantee its delivery or a pledge to restore the removed sorting machinery.

“Postal workers are doing everything they can to keep us all safe and healthy while delivering essential items during this difficult time,” said Hassan. “Meanwhile the (Trump) administration works to undermine their efforts at every step. We will keep working to support postal workers and make sure that not only your ballots but your medications get delivered in a timely way.”

Hassan was the only member of the delegation able to tour the facility, with U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-01) up for re-election in November and therefore ineligible for a tour due to Hatch Act concerns.

Pappas, Kuster and Shaheen echoed Hassan’s comments and also spoke in support of Delivering for America Act, which would provide $25 billion for the USPS requested by the USPS Board of Governors.

The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday with support from Pappas and Kuster.

“Granite Staters have spoken loudly and clearly: they like the Postal Service, they rely on the Postal Service, and they are sick and tired of seeing political attacks aimed at slowing the mail, reducing service, and hurting our democracy,” said Pappas, who held an event at the facility last week. “I was proud to join the hardworking members of our Postal Service today to stand up against the attacks from this Administration. The Postal Service belongs to each and every American, and I remain committed to protecting and defending this vital public service that Americans depend on to get their prescriptions, run their small businesses, stay connected to their community.”

Shaheen urged action on the bill in the U.S. Senate.

“This morning, Granite Staters made their voices heard loud and clear: they will not accept the Trump administration’s sabotage of the Postal Service,” said Shaheen. “Granite Staters are relying on USPS now more than ever to receive essential items, including medications that are now being dangerously delayed. The administration needs to have the backs of postal workers rather than undermining their mission. The Trump administration’s refusal to reverse these harmful policy changes at the Postal Service is shameful and highlights why Mitch McConnell must stop dragging his feet and call the Senate back into session to act on legislation passed by the House that funds the Postal Service and restores timely delivery.”


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Paul Bonneville of Tilton came down to support the USPS. Credit/Andrew Sylvia

Janice Kelble, New Hampshire Legislative Coordinator for the APWU, believes the roots of the current situation can be found in the 2006 Postal Accountability Act, which mandated the USPS provide pensions for workers 75 years into the future and prohibiting raising stamp prices at a rate higher than inflation. That and the Great Recession of 2008 put the USPS into an economic crisis, with no true help coming from recent COVID relief legislation.

Kelble added that if the USPS is privatized, the millions of pieces of mail delivered every day could be jeopardized by fly-by-night private entities that may not be able to cope.

“Politics don’t have any business being involved in the operation of the postal service,” said Kelble on the actions of Trump and DeJoy. “As a short-term goal, (Trump and his supporters) want to have people lose confidence in voting by mail, but their overall goal is the end of a public postal service.”

While 26 House Republicans voted with the Democratic majority on Saturday and another 20 Republicans did not vote on the bill, which passed 257-150, local Republicans have voiced skepticism on the Democrats’ efforts, viewing it as little more as a political ploy ignoring the reduction in mail delivery over the past 20 years.

Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Corky Messner feels that the challenges faced by the USPS should have been addressed by the Obama Administration if the Democrats were truly interested in helping the USPS.

“The recent House bill to provide $25 billion in funding to USPS and block planned changes is a result of this mistaken belief and will only add to our ballooning federal deficit,” said Messner. “The US Postal Service does need to be more efficient and its needs should be addressed, but to tie recent attempts to improve its operations to a Republican ‘plot’ to subvert the November election is laughable.”

 

About this Author

Andrew Sylvia

Assistant EditorManchester Ink Link

Born and raised in the Granite State, Andrew Sylvia has written approximately 10,000 pieces over his career for outlets across Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. On top of that, he's a licensed notary and licensed to sell property, casualty and life insurance, he's been a USSF trained youth soccer and futsal referee for the past six years and he can name over 60 national flags in under 60 seconds according to that flag game app he has on his phone, which makes sense because he also has a bachelor's degree in geography (like Michael Jordan). He can also type over 100 words a minute on a good day.