EAGAN, MN – Today, U.S. Representative Angie Craig demanded answers from the United States Postal Service (USPS) leadership on the status of the new New Prague post office following reports from a local news organization that their newspapers were not being delivered to their subscribers on time.
In a letter to USPS Postmaster General David Steiner and MN-ND District Manager Angela Bye, Rep. Craig wrote, “I write to you to express my strong concern regarding reports of continued poor mail delivery performance in New Prague, Minnesota, and request further clarification regarding the timeline for the opening of the new Post Office location in New Prague, Minnesota.”
“The New Prague Times shared with my office that the USPS has failed to deliver newspaper subscriptions, limiting access to local journalism and directly harming a small business’ financial wellbeing,” Rep. Craig continued. “Timely newspaper delivery service is vital to ensuring our rural communities can stay informed and that local newspapers can continue doing their vital work. As a nation, we have recently seen the Trump Administration threaten comedians and journalists’ right to free speech and to peacefully dissent against their government over political views. The ability to access and practice First Amendment rights is more important than ever.”
Rep. Craig has consistently spoken out against unacceptable USPS performance in the South Metro and has led the charge to improve mail service and protect USPS from privatization. Local letter carriers and others have also raised the alarm about leadership changes that are impacting morale and culture in Minnesota post offices.
This Congress, Rep. Craig introduced her Deliver for Democracy Act, which would limit price increases on stamps until the USPS can achieve at least a 95% on-time delivery rate for periodicals and require the USPS to report annually to the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission on its progress – including on-time delivery data for newspapers in its periodical service performance measurement.
In February of 2024, following more than a year of advocacy alongside then-New Prague Mayor Duane Jirik, Rep. Craig announced the USPS’ plans for a new post office in New Prague, MN.
And in January of 2024, following Rep. Craig’s bipartisan call for a statewide investigation, the USPS OIG announced an investigation of the entire MN-ND postal district.
In January of 2023, she launched an online USPS survey to gauge the extent of postal issues in the Second District and received more than 3,300 responses from Minnesotans. Rep. Craig delivered those responses directly to Postmaster General DeJoy’s office in Washington DC.
Good luck. You’ll find that they really don’t care what you or anyone else thinks.