Washington D.C. (August 31, 2022)—On Wednesday, September 7, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, will hold a field hearing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to examine drops in the U.S. Postal Service’s mail delivery performance, recent increases in postal mail theft and crime, and whether the Postal Service is prepared to effectively receive and deliver mail-in ballots nationally during the upcoming election cycle.
In 2020, Postal Service senior staff, including the Postmaster General, began making consequential operational changes to mail and package delivery without consulting customers and, as a result, mail delivery service across the U.S. plummeted. In Philadelphia, the on-time delivery rate for mail that should take three-to-five days to deliver was just 61.9% in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021. While delivery rates have improved nationwide and in Pennsylvania, some of this improvement is the result of new service delivery standards that extend delivery targets, making it easier to achieve on-time delivery.
In recent years, postal mail theft has also emerged as a rampant problem. Between 2018 and 2021, robberies of mail carriers more than tripled, and robberies involving a gun more than quadrupled. However, in 2020, the Postal Service put a new policy in place that prevented Postal Police officers from investigating mail theft that doesn’t take place on USPS property.
At approximately 2:00 p.m. ET, at the conclusion of the field hearing, Chairman Connolly and members of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation will hold a press conference to recap the information uncovered at the hearing.
| WHAT:
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Subcommittee on Government Operations hearing entitled “Delivering for Pennsylvania: Examining Postal Service Delivery and Operations from the Cradle of Liberty”
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| WHEN:
WHERE: |
Wednesday, September 7, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. ET
Temple University 1810 Liacouras Walk Building – 5th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19122 |
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WHO:
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Ivan Butts President National Association of Postal Supervisors
Gary Vaccarella
Melinda Perez Assistant Inspector General for Audit U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General Frank Albergo |
| WATCH: | A livestream will be available on YouTube and the Committee on Oversight and Reform website. |
PRESS CONFERENCE:
| WHEN: | 2:00 p.m. ET (or immediately following the hearing)
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| WHERE: | Temple University
1810 Liacouras Walk Building – 5th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19122 |
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WHO:
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Rep. Gerald E. Connolly Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations
Rep. Brendan F. Boyle Member of Congress, Second District of Pennsylvania
Rep. Dwight Evans Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon Member of Congress, Fifth District of Pennsylvania
Rep. Madeleine Dean Member of Congress, Fourth District of Pennsylvania
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan Member of Congress, Sixth District of Pennsylvania
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| WATCH: | A livestream of the press conference will be available on the Committee on Oversight and Reform Facebook page. | |