“The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by Act of Congress, and supported by the people.” These aren’t my words. This is the text of 39 U.S. Code § 101.
Currently, the Trump administration is dismantling this fundamental service with the primary objective of preventing the American people from voting by mail. During this unprecedented pandemic when voting in person is not an option for the most vulnerable in our communities and for many of the rest of us, it’s a health risk we are uncomfortable taking, they are undermining the entire postal system to prevent citizens from voting.
Our Founding Fathers understood the importance of a safe and reliable method to move correspondences and parcels in order to conduct commerce and connect the American people. It was such an important concept that they wrote it into the Constitution. The U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery institution in the country that has the capability to regularly deliver to every residential and business address in the nation. That is why so many people and businesses rely on it.
It is estimated that the U.S. Postal Service delivers 100 million prescriptions per year. For Veterans who get their healthcare through the VA Health System and Seniors on Medicare and many with private insurance, they regularly receive their medications in their mailbox. So when the efficiency of the mail is undermined, it endangers the health and welfare of individuals across the country. Social media is full of personal testimonies of people waiting 10 to 14 days longer than usual to receive their needed medications. Individuals going through withdrawal from some drugs. People who have run out of their blood pressure and seizure medications while waiting for their postal deliveries. Some have commented of medications that are temperature sensitive and say they don’t know that once they finally arrive if they will be effective or even safe to take.
