March 21, 2023

Washington, D.C – Congressman Sam Graves (MO-06) and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II (MO-05) wrote United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy requesting the Postmaster General personally host a listening session in Kansas City to hear complaints directly from area residents about the Postal Service’s failure to provide reliable mail delivery six days per week as required by the Postal Service Reform Act and lay out a plan for the agency to address these deficiencies.

“The US Postal Service is one of the few functions the federal government should do—and should do well, but they aren’t,” Congressman Graves said. “The Postal Service has completely abandoned their legal responsibility to provide reliable 6 day mail delivery to Missourians in the greater Kansas City area. Worse still, they’ve offered empty excuses and failed to deliver any real plan to fix this mess. We’re inviting Postmaster General DeJoy to Kansas City to hear the struggles of our constituents firsthand and lay out a clear plan for the agency to live up to its promise.”

“A stable, consistent, and responsive Postal Service is not a Republican or Democratic issue—it’s an essential function of government that hardworking families rely on and have come to expect over the past two centuries,” said Congressman Cleaver. “Unfortunately, under the leadership of Postmaster General DeJoy, we’ve seen this beloved institution quickly devolve into a sad display of constant delays, infrequent deliveries, and endless excuses. I hope that the Postmaster General will accept this opportunity to hear directly from the people of Kansas City, and work with Congressman Graves and myself to ensure the USPS is meeting the needs of Missouri families.”

This letter follows an October 11, 2022 letter sent by Reps. Graves and Cleaver to Postmaster General DeJoy, expressing concerns about the agency’s failure to fulfill their Congressionally mandated duty to provide six-day mail delivery. In December, the Postal Service responded by complaining about low unemployment rates in the Kansas City area and encouraging residents to apply to work at the Postal Service, without offering any plan for the agency to fulfill their Congressional mandate to provide reliable six-day mail delivery.

You can read their full letter here.