U.S. Reps. Jennifer McClellan, Bobby Scott and Rob Wittman met with United States Postal Service leadership and toured the Sandston Sorting Facility and Distribution Center.
Representatives from Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner also attended. After hearing from many constituents, the Virginia lawmakers have been pressing USPS on the ongoing mail delivery issues in the region.
The Richmond Regional Processing and Distribution Center is one of the first processing centers in the country that was opened to centralize outgoing mail and package processing as part of Postmaster General DeJoy’s Delivering for America Plan. The center is currently undergoing an audit by the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG), which is expected to release its report and recommendations soon to assess the efficacy and operational impacts of the changes.
“The USPS mail delivery delays over the past year are unacceptable. Our constituents rely on timely, consistent mail delivery to receive important benefits, tax documents, prescription medications, and more,” the lawmakers said. “USPS has identified specific issues at the Sandston Facility related to its distribution transition and has put important measures in place to address them, but there is more work to do. We look forward to receiving the Inspector General’s report and will continue to monitor mail delivery in the region and advocate on behalf of our constituents. We urge USPS to maintain transparency with the Virginia congressional delegation and their customers as they work to resolve these problems.”
In March, Kaine led a bipartisan group of Virginia lawmakers, including McClellan, Wittman, Scott and Warner, in a letter to the USPS OIG sharing stories of Postal Service disruptions and delays across Virginia. In January, McClellan and Wittman joined a bipartisan group of Virginia lawmakers, led by Kaine, in pressing USPS on mail delivery delays and disruptions impacting Virginians in the Richmond region and raised concerns about reports that the Richmond VA Medical Center received hundreds of colon cancer test samples that were unusable because of delivery delays. Last year, McClellan, Warner and Kaine wrote to USPS, pressing them to address mail delivery issues in Virginia.
The lawmakers continue pressuring USPS to resolve the ongoing mail delivery issues. They have opened hundreds of cases for impacted Virginians and continue to advocate for them.
Related stories:
Richmond: Virginia lawmakers push USPS for transparency on mail delivery issues – Augusta Free Press
Lawmakers push USPS for answers about mail delays, disruptions in Richmond area – Augusta Free Press
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Rebecca Barnabi
