In The News
Democratic members of Maryland’s congressional delegation say recent slowdowns in mail delivery across the United States aren’t just a result of recent policy changes – but a deliberate effort by President Trump to hinder the November election. In a Monday afternoon news conference outside of the U.S. Postal Service hub in Baltimore, U.S. Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Democratic members of the state’s U.S. House delegation slammed Trump over reports that the USPS is scaling back operations all over the country, and demanded an investigation.... Cardin and Van Hollen were joined by U.S. Reps. John P. Sarbanes and Kweisi Mfume, as well as Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City). The Democratic lawmakers warned that Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting don’t just hamper trust in elections, but could also put Marylanders who head to the polls at risk. Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young (D) also attended the news conference.
Baltimore City and Maryland State Leaders are expected to discuss their concerns over mail delivery delays and postal equipment removal at 12PM today at the USPS Distribution Center in Downtown Baltimore.... Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin, Congressmen John Sarbanes and Kweisi Mfume, plus Baltimore Mayor Jack Young and Senate President Bill Ferguson will talk about the current postal issues. Their concerns involve the mail delivery process which lately has experienced significant delays in essential mail such as medications and retirement checks. They’re also expected to provide an update on their legislative efforts and investigate the Trump Administration’s actions especially as the nation prepares for a mainly main-in-voting general election.
As concerns mount over policy changes and mail delays with the United States Postal Service, Maryland congressional leaders called for billions of dollars in relief to be passed during a gathering on Monday, while at least one leader called for the resignation of Postmaster Louis DeJoy. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) was joined by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Reps. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) and John Sarbanes (D-MD), and other political and union leaders during a rally outside a Postal Service distribution center in Baltimore.
A group of Maryland's federal and state legislators on Monday blasted changes to the U.S. Postal Service that the lawmakers said could lead to delays and critical problems as voters mail in their ballots for the November presidential election.... The news conference came amid reports of mail delivery delays and the removal of some processing machines in Maryland, and the news that the U.S. Postal Service has warned many states, including Maryland, that it could not guarantee all mail-in ballots will arrive in time to be counted in the November election....U.S. reps. Kweisi Mfume and John Sarbanes and Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson also spoke at the news conference.
The COVID-19 outbreak and the country’s long overdue reckoning with institutional racism have dramatically laid bare deep-rooted inequities in our society — inequities driven by our broken democracy. It’s time to find solutions, and we believe many of them lie in ending the twin evils of voter suppression and money in politics…. Concrete solutions to these twin obstacles are available in three critically important bills passed by the House but now languishing in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s “graveyard”: H.R. 1, known as the For the People Act; H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act; and H.R. 51, which would provide for D.C. statehood. We can take the energy of this moment and channel it toward the attainable goals of protecting the right to vote and reining in the influence of money in our politics. The reforms embodied in these bills will empower communities of color at the ballot box and in the halls of Congress. The House has done the hard work of passing these key pieces of legislation. If Mr. McConnell and Senate Republicans continue to stand in the way, they will be left to answer for their intransigence. The time has come to reset the rules of our democracy and build a more inclusive and racially just society.
Amid growing public alarm over the actions of the United States Postal Service’s new leader, Maryland Democrats moved over the weekend to spotlight how those actions have slowed mail delivery — including the processing of ballots this November. U.S. Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and several other members of the state’s congressional delegation have organized a Monday news conference to give members of the agency’s unions the opportunity to describe publicly how Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s policy changes have impacted mail delivery. Also scheduled to appear at Monday’s news conference: Reps. John Sarbanes (D) and Kweisi Mfume (D), Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young (D) and state Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City).
Democrats accused President Trump on Thursday of trying to skew the 2020 elections by forcing a slowdown at the U.S. Postal Service, as the President said without extra funding - which he opposes - the Postal Service would not be able to deal with an increased number of ballots being sent by mail in 2020 due to the Coronavirus outbreak. “They need that money in order to make the Post Office work, so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” the President told the Fox Business Network in a telephone interview. “If they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting, because they’re not equipped.” Democrats were outraged. “Trump couldn’t be clearer,” said Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD). “He doesn’t care about Americans’ health or their right to vote.”
Members of Baltimore’s congressional delegation on Friday pressed the U.S. Postal Service to address prolonged service delays, even as the union representing local postal workers says their processing equipment is being dismantled. In their letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the lawmakers stated they have received a high volume of complaints describing “major mail delivery issues” in 14 locales in the city and in Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin, and Congressmen Kweisi Mfume, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and John Sarbanes — all Democrats — urged the postmaster to abandon policies that are causing mail backlogs across the country.
Frustrated lawmakers made surprise visits Monday to post offices in Dundalk and Essex, as the U.S. Postal Service said it was reviewing its staffing following complaints of severe mail delivery delays in the Baltimore area. “They need a lot more people,” U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Baltimore County said after speaking to customers and managers at the two postal facilities. “It’s a mess. We are setting ourselves up for a perfect storm as more Americans turn to mail.” The Postal Service said in a statement that it would make any needed “adjustments.” Ruppersberger, a Democrat, said his office has received dozens of constituent complaints, particularly about service in Dundalk. Rep. John Sarbanes, a Baltimore County Democrat, recently joined other federal lawmakers in expressing concern that new cost-reduction policies will reduce delivery trips, potentially leaving mail on docks or workroom floors.
The University of Maryland Support, Advocacy, Freedom and Empowerment (SAFE) Center for Human Trafficking Survivors, which aids survivors of human trafficking in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, was awarded $500,000 in federal funding. The SAFE Center operates in partnership with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services to provide housing assistance to survivors of human trafficking. “The Coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the need for stable, supportive housing for survivors,” according to U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and U.S. Representatives Jamie Raskin, John Sarbanes, Steny Hoyer and David Trone. “Through a thoughtful and trauma-informed approach, the SAFE Center will use these funds to continue helping survivors of human trafficking live independently – permanently. Maryland is fortunate to have the SAFE Center as a resource both to assist survivors and to prevent further trafficking, and we will keep supporting these crucial efforts in Congress,” the Maryland legislators wrote in a news release…. The SAFE Center is involved with direct services, research and advocacy for sex and labor trafficking survivors.