Roger Marshall: U.S. Postal Service a lifeline, especially for rural communities

As I crisscross Kansas, a common theme emerges along state highways and less-traveled gravel roads. The anchor of many small towns and cities is the post office, ensuring that families and homes for dozens of miles in all directions remain connected to the rest of the world. And six days a week, like clockwork, postal employees distribute packages, letters, prescriptions and countless other essential items.

The U.S. Postal Service traces its roots back to the Pony Express and today remains one of the most important and nonpartisan responsibilities of the federal government.

As a member of the bipartisan Postal Preservation Caucus, I have been vocal about my support of the Postal Service and the hardworking men and women who carry our mail in the snow, rain, heat and gloom of night. It is essential we continue to fund the post office, but we cannot let politics and conspiracy theories damage one of our nation’s most important services.

Growing up on a farm in rural Butler County instilled in me a deep appreciation and understanding of the importance of our nation’s mail delivery system from an early age. Postal Service carriers do more than just deliver the mail; sometimes, they’re the eyes and ears for an entire county. They give hunting reports, community updates and in some cases, they are even the first to notice when someone may be in trouble or need of assistance.

Since coming to Congress, I have been a leading supporter of the post office — especially our rural carriers — advocating for bills that would fight against privatization of the service, continue six-day mail delivery, ensure door delivery for all customers and put the service on a path to achieve long-term fiscal sustainability.

I was one of only nine Republicans who signed onto the bipartisan Postal Preservation Act, which would provide $25 billion in funding to the post office for its Postal Service Fund for revenue lost because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Keeping the critical workers at the post office healthy during the ongoing disruption should be a priority for all of us, and this bill would allow for all Postal Service employees to have the personal protective equipment necessary to remain on the job, as well as enable the service to conduct additional cleaning and sanitizing of facilities and delivery vehicles to keep us all safe and healthy.

In the meantime, the Postal Service currently has $14 billion cash on hand and, under Congress’ coronavirus relief act passed earlier this year with my support, it has the option of receiving an additional $10 billion loan from the Treasury Department.

Mail delivery is more than a convenience. It’s a lifeline, a friendly face and vital federal service that we must protect, preserve and defend. I will continue to stand with Kansans in support of the United States Postal Service.

This story was originally published August 23, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Roger Marshall: U.S. Postal Service a lifeline, especially for rural communities."