[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





 
                      DELIVERING FOR PENNSYLVANIA:


                   EXAMINING POSTAL SERVICE DELIVERY


                        AND OPERATIONS FROM THE


                           CRADLE OF LIBERTY

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                 SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

                                 OF THE

                   COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM

                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                           SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

                               __________

                           Serial No. 117-100

                               __________

      Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Reform
      
      
      
      
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                            ______
 
              U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
 48-610 PDF           WASHINGTON : 2022 
 
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                   COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM

                CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York, Chairwoman

Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of   James Comer, Kentucky, Ranking 
    Columbia                             Minority Member
Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts      Jim Jordan, Ohio
Jim Cooper, Tennessee                Virginia Foxx, North Carolina
Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia         Jody B. Hice, Georgia
Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois        Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin
Jamie Raskin, Maryland               Michael Cloud, Texas
Ro Khanna, California                Bob Gibbs, Ohio
Kweisi Mfume, Maryland               Clay Higgins, Louisiana
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York   Ralph Norman, South Carolina
Rashida Tlaib, Michigan              Pete Sessions, Texas
Katie Porter, California             Fred Keller, Pennsylvania
Cori Bush, Missouri                  Andy Biggs, Arizona
Shontel M. Brown, Ohio               Andrew Clyde, Georgia
Danny K. Davis, Illinois             Nancy Mace, South Carolina
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida    Scott Franklin, Florida
Peter Welch, Vermont                 Jake LaTurner, Kansas
Henry C. ``Hank'' Johnson, Jr.,      Pat Fallon, Texas
    Georgia                          Yvette Herrell, New Mexico
John P. Sarbanes, Maryland           Byron Donalds, Florida
Jackie Speier, California            Mike Flood, Nebraska
Robin L. Kelly, Illinois
Brenda L. Lawrence, Michigan
Mark DeSaulnier, California
Jimmy Gomez, California
Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts

                     Russell Anello, Staff Director
              Wendy Ginsberg, Subcommittee Staff Director
                    Amy Stratton, Deputy Chief Clerk

                      Contact Number: 202-225-5051

                  Mark Marin, Minority Staff Director
                                 ------                                

                 Subcommittee on Government Operations

                 Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia, Chairman
Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of   Jody B. Hice, Georgia Ranking 
    Columbia                             Minority Member
Danny K. Davis, Illinois             Fred Keller, Pennsylvania
John P. Sarbanes, Maryland           Andrew Clyde, Georgia
Brenda L. Lawrence, Michigan         Andy Biggs, Arizona
Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts      Nancy Mace, South Carolina
Jamie Raskin, Maryland               Jake LaTurner, Kansas
Ro Khanna, California                Yvette Herrell, New Mexico
Katie Porter, California
Shontel M. Brown, Ohio

                         C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page
Hearing held on September 7, 2022................................     1

                               Witnesses

Mr. Gary Vaccarella, DE-PA2 District Manager, U.S. Postal Service
Oral Statement...................................................    16

Ms. Melinda Perez, Assistant Inspector General for Audit, U.S. 
  Postal Service Office of Inspector General
Oral Statement...................................................    18

Mr. Ivan Butts, President, National Association of Postal 
  Supervisors
Oral Statement...................................................    19

Mr. Frank Albergo, National President, Postal Police Officers 
  Association
Oral Statement...................................................    21

Written opening statements and statements for the witnesses are 
  available on the U.S. House of Representatives Document 
  Repository at: docs.house.gov.

                           Index of Documents

                              ----------                              

  * Postal Times, ``Did the U.S. Postal Service pave the way for 
  surge in thefts by muzzling its own police?''; submitted by 
  Chairman Connolly.

  * The Conversation, ``How cybercriminals turn paper checks 
  stolen from mailboxes into bitcoin;'' submitted by Chairman 
  Connolly.

  * The Washington Post, ``The stolen-mail scheme now targeting a 
  wealthy D.C. suburb;'' submitted by Chairman Connolly.

  * Questions for the Record: to Mr. Ivan Butts; submitted by 
  Chairman Connolly.

  * Questions for the Record: to Ms. Perez; submitted by Chairman 
  Connolly.

  * Questions for the Record: to Mr. Gary Vaccarella; submitted 
  by Chairman Connolly.

  * Questions for the Record: to Mr. Frank Albergo; submitted by 
  Chairman Connolly.

The documents entered into the record for this hearing are 
  available at: docs.house.gov.


                      DELIVERING FOR PENNSYLVANIA:

                   EXAMINING POSTAL SERVICE DELIVERY

                        AND OPERATIONS FROM THE

                           CRADLE OF LIBERTY

                              ----------                              


                      Wednesday, September 7, 2022

                   House of Representatives
                  Committee on Oversight and Reform
                      Subcommittee on Government Operations
                                                   Washington, D.C.

    The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:02 a.m., 
Temple University, 1810 Liacouras Walk, Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, and via Zoom; Hon. Gerald E. Connolly (chairman 
of the subcommittee) presiding.
    Present: Representatives Connolly, Norton, Davis, Lawrence, 
and Lynch.
    Also present: Representatives Boyle, Evans, Scanlon, Dean, 
Houlahan, Cartwright, Fitzpatrick.
    Also present: Senator Casey.
    Mr. Connolly. The committee will come to order.
    Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a 
recess of the committee at any time.
    I want to welcome everybody to this field hearing in 
Philadelphia, which seeks to understand the mail delivery 
performance issues that plaque this region.
    Before I begin my opening statement, I want to ask 
unanimous consent that the following members shall be waived on 
to the subcommittee as participants for the purpose of this 
hearing: Senator Bob Casey, Congressman Brendon Boyle, 
Congressman Dwight Evans, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, 
Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, 
Congressman Matt Cartwright, and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick.
    Without objection, it is so ordered.
    I now recognize myself for an opening statement.
    Last October we held a hearing in Chicago to investigate 
the deteriorating mail delivery performance in that region. In 
February, we went to Baltimore, the city with the worst on-time 
delivery rating in the Nation.
    Today marks our third field hearing examining postal 
delivery in the last 10 months. Philadelphia, the host of our 
third hearing, is the birthplace of our Constitution and the 
hometown of the Nation's first postmaster general, Benjamin 
Franklin.
    This city is a fitting location to examine the Postal 
Service which has transformed since its operations began even 
before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In 1753, 
Benjamin Franklin assumed the role of deputy postmaster general 
of the colonies, helming a money-making mail-in venue for 
Britain that catered exclusively to lawyers and business 
people.
    Then the Postal Service was too expensive for most people 
to access, until Mr. Franklin took steps to democratize the 
service. Once he became postmaster general, Franklin 
streamlined postal routes, improved accounting practices, and 
most importantly, Franklin made the Postal Service more 
equitable, lowering prices, and expanding services to attract a 
universal customer base that ensured the Postal Service was not 
a darling of the rich and that it could serve as a vehicle for 
uniting the then-colonies.
    It is with these egalitarian and foundational ideals in 
mind that we hold this hearing today in the cradle of the 
Nation's liberty. We're here to ensure that the Postal Service 
continues to bond this Nation as a union.
    Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our Postal Service work 
force delivered prescriptions, medications, paychecks, food 
stamps, stimulus checks, holiday cards, gifts, rapid COVID 
tests provided by the Biden administration, and so much more to 
homes and businesses across the Nation.
    A June 2020 Harris poll found that the Postal Service 
rankled as the single most essential company to Americans 
during the pandemic. It outranked companies that manufactured 
PPE and sanitizers.
    According to Pew Research, 91 percent of Americans had a 
favorable view of the Postal Service making it by far the most 
popular agency associated with the Federal Government.
    The Postal Service employees 630,000 individuals who live 
in every single congressional district. That work force 
delivers mail to more than 163 million delivery points every 
day and operates more than 31,000 postal offices nationwide.
    In April, I was proud to cosponsor it, the Congress enacted 
the Postal Services Reform Act. This once-in-a-generation 
legislation puts the Postal Service on the path of financial 
solvency, unshackling it from unfair statutory burdens that 
kept it marred in unnecessary payments and debt. The bill 
plants the Postal Service on firm financial ground readying it 
for the future.
    Now Congress must make sure that the Postal Service 
leadership is prepared and poised to take the reins we hand 
them. Recent reports and constituent voices leave us concerned 
that they are not. A recent inspector general report, for 
example, found that the Postal Service has not been meeting the 
needs of its customers. In fact, the Postal Service Office of 
Inspector General found that the Postal Service only met 
service performance targets for three of 33 products in Fiscal 
Year 2020.
    Good reliable service is vital to the Postal Services long-
term survival. Late or lost deliveries drive mailers away from 
using the Postal Service. Fortunately, nationwide service 
performance has improved since 2020, consistently meeting on-
time delivery targets in most regions.
    We should certainly recognize that progress, but I want to 
note that the Postal Service reduced its on-time delivery 
targets during that time period, particularly for first-class 
mail. So some of the improvement we see is pursuant to the 
lower standards adopted last year.
    And I think most consumers would like to see us go back to 
the higher standards and have high performance goals met there.
    Today, we're in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, 
to look at on-time mail delivery and more.
    First, we want to highlight the Postal Service's recent 
announcement that it will consolidate functions, including more 
than 200 post offices and postal facilities across the country, 
including several here in Pennsylvania.
    In addition the Postal Service previously announced it 
intends to cut up to 50,000 positions to reach a break-even 
point as part of Mr. DeJoy's 10-year plan. Chief among 
Congress' concerns is that Postal Service has, once again, 
failed to keep its key stakeholders informed, effectively 
informed of their plans and how it will impact careers and 
everyday job performance.
    We also remain inherently skeptical of long-term Postal 
Service plans that rely on rate hikes, slower service, lower 
standards, fewer workers, and reduced infrastructure.
    Ben Franklin who invested in more services for more people 
would, I think, be dubious. We also have a keen interest in 
ensuring that the Postal Service is prepared to serve as a 
linchpin of the voting franchise. During the 2020 election, the 
Postal Service delivered roughly 543 million pieces of election 
mail, including 135 million ballots to and from voters, a 96 
percent increase from 2016.
    In 2022, the Postal Service is already helped deliver 
ballots for 42 primaries, runoffs, and special elections. 
Compared to the same time period in 2018, election mail volume 
has increased 200 percent and growing.
    Pennsylvania is a key crossroads for American democracy. We 
must ensure that everyone has unfettered access to vote using 
the methods that work best for them. Many states have deadlines 
for requesting and returning election ballots that make it 
difficult or potentially impossible for Postal Service 
employees to deliver them to election officials in time to 
qualify as a valid vote.
    In other states like Pennsylvania, conservative legislators 
have sought to place restrictions on mail-in voting, citing 
utterly unfounded election fraud claims. Vote by mail is safe 
and effective. So safe and effective that both former President 
Trump and the current postmaster general Louis DeJoy vote by 
mail.
    Today, we seek to answer questions that ensure that the 
Postal Service is ready for its consequential role in this 
November's midterm elections. Mail theft and mail-related crime 
have skyrocketed in Pennsylvania and across the Nation.
    Between 2018 and 2021, robberies of mail carriers more than 
tripled and robberies involving a gun more than quadrupled 
according to Postal Service data.
    The postal inspection service is opening cases in only a 
fraction of these crimes offering little in the way of crime 
prevention. The Philadelphia Inquirer called Pennsylvania a hot 
spot for check theft with 871 stolen checks found on the dark 
web in May 2022 alone.
    Meanwhile, the postal police force has shrunk to 455 
officers, down 65 percent from 1341 officers back in 2002.
    And the Postal Service has determined that these offices 
should be confined exclusively to Postal Service property, all 
but inviting would-be thieves and ill-doers to prey on postal 
workers and their customers while they're on delivery routes 
because they're not on Postal Service property.
    We need more postal police who are vested with the 
authorities needed to prevent crime and stop them where they 
happen. Finally, we need to make certain, as Postmaster General 
Benjamin Franklin did, that the Postal Service is accessible to 
everybody. We must ensure that rate hikes do not return the 
Postal Service to a service of the privileged. We must ensure 
that rate hikes are reasonable and reviewed.
    That's why today I introduced the Ensuring Accurate Postal 
Rates Act, which would require the Postal Regulatory 
Commission, which has oversight authority over the Postal 
Services rate determinations to restart their rate making 
system review process and to include the positive financial 
effects of the Postal Service Reform Act to determine if 
existing enhanced rate increases are warranted.
    We have a full agenda of policy issues for today's hearing 
and to start will hear testimony from two constituents of our 
members in attendance today to help focus our attention on 
issues of access to postal facilities and care and justice for 
those who risk their lives delivering mail every day.
    I look forward to hearing from these constituents, our 
witnesses, members of the Pennsylvania delegation and to 
ensuring that Pennsylvanians are getting the mail delivery 
systems they need and deserve. Ben Franklin would expect no 
less.
    So we're going to hear from two constituents, one of whom, 
I believe, is yours Ms. Houlahan and the other is yours Ms. 
Scanlon and then we'll give every member an opportunity--Brian, 
I'm sorry, I didn't see you walk in. Can you wait for these two 
constituents--OK.
    And then if you have an opening statement, I'll call on you 
right away. And then we'll give every member an opportunity for 
a three-minute opening statement and then we'll go to our 
testimony if that's all right.
    Roll the video.
    [Video shown.]
    Mr. Connolly. I want to thank you both for participating. 
And the first witness or first constituent we heard from is 
Mary Gay Scanlon's constituent and the second witness, Joe, is 
Chrissy Houlahan's constituent. So thank you both.
    The chair now recognizes the distinguished member from 
Philadelphia, the acting ranking member of the subcommittee 
today, Brian Fitzpatrick. Thank you, Brian. You're recognized 
for any opening statement you may have.
    Mr. Fitzpatrick. Thank you, Chairman Connolly, for the 
promotion today. I guess this is a one-day operation. Is that 
how it works, with the promotion?
    Thank you. Welcome to the city where America was born, 
Chairman Connolly, and also where the post office was born, as 
well as many other features of our government. Thank you to our 
panelists today for being here. And there's one thing that I 
think we can say unequivocally speaking on behalf of everybody 
on the panel here and that is our complete and total support 
for the importance of the U.S. Post Office, the importance and 
our appreciation for the workers who have overcome a lot of 
challenges. The Post Office has had to overcome a lot of 
challenges.
    COVID impacted everyone and everything. Perhaps no entity 
more than the U.S. Postal Service and the challenge wasn't just 
to the entity itself, but to the customers that the post office 
serves, because so much of what we receive in the mail is time 
sensitive as the chairman pointed out. Utility bills, credit 
card bills that carry late fees, sale items that are time 
sensitive and the like.
    So on-time delivery is certainly a critical element and key 
to the success of the post office, which is why we were all 
proud to support the Postal Reform Act. There were a number of 
things that were needed for a long time that was long overdue, 
ensuring six-day delivery, ensuring door service, eliminating 
the prefunding mandate, which was unique to the post office.
    It was a problem that the government created that the 
government had to undo. Thankfully that has been undone because 
it was that specific provision that led to years and years of 
insolvency and financial hardship by the USPS due to no-fault 
of their own, due to a very antiquated and unfair prefunding 
mandate. So we're glad that those things are now being 
addressed.
    A couple things I wanted to point out, obviously one of the 
purposes of these hearings is to make sure that we can take 
information back, put things on the record, No. 1, and actually 
make additional changes that will make the Postal Service's job 
easier, because it is one thing across the board I'm sure that 
all of my colleagues have been in a similar situation where 
we're hearing from constituents about concerns about delays, 
about wrong delivery to the wrong address and also something 
that's concerning to me is recruitment and retention challenges 
for our postal workers and our letter carriers.
    It's a hard job. It's a very, very hard job to be a postal 
worker or letter carrier, even in the best of times. These are 
very challenging times for all of those workers, both from a 
workload perspective, a mental health perspective, a personal/
physical safety perspective. It's a hard job. And what we want 
to do here is to do what we can to make that job easier.
    And we have labor shortages across the board. We have 
supply chain disruptions across the board and it's our job to 
address each one of them individually and none are more 
important than making sure that we address those issues with 
the U.S. Postal Service, because if the Postal Service is in 
any way, shape, or form broken that has a ripple effect on so 
many different aspects of everyone's life. So Chairman 
Connolly, thanks for coming to Philadelphia.
    And I yield back.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Mr. Fitzpatrick. And thank 
you so much for joining us today and for your leadership on so 
many issues here in the greater Philadelphia area and in 
Washington, DC.
    The chair now calls on the distinguished Congresswoman from 
the District of Columbia for a three-minute opening statement 
should she have one, Congresswoman Norton. Welcome Ms. Norton.
    Ms. Norton. Thank you, Chairman Connolly.
    Can you hear me?
    Mr. Connolly. Loud and clear.
    Ms. Norton. Thank you, Chairman Connolly, for holding this 
hearing on the United States Postal Service.
    In my district, the District of Columbia, like other 
jurisdictions, we have seen an increase in mail theft and 
widespread delayed and undelivered mail. The public's 
confidence in the Postal Service, a critical institution, has 
been shaken.
    Mail theft, particularly of checks, has been increasing 
throughout the country. I've been contacted by constituents who 
have had their checks stolen from the mail and altered, and 
thousands of dollars taken from their accounts. The increase in 
thefts also puts the safety of our hard-working postal workers 
at risk.
    I would like to thank all of our witnesses for being here, 
but I would especially like to thank Frank Albergo, the 
National President of the Postal Police Officers Association, 
who has worked with my office to combat mail theft.
    I'd like to conclude by noting that I have introduced a 
bill to combat mail theft, which would clarify the authority of 
the U.S. Postal Police Officers to protect the mail, Postal 
Service property, and Postal Service employees wherever they 
are located.
    Thank you again, Chairman Connolly, for holding this 
important hearing.
    And I yield back.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Congresswoman Norton. And 
thank you for your leadership. We look forward to working with 
you on that bill. I now recognize the distinguished gentleman 
from Massachusetts, my family's Congressman and a long-time 
leader on postal issues without whose leadership I don't think 
we would've gotten postal reform done this year, Mr. Steve 
Lynch.
    Mr. Lynch. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And it is great to join 
you and my colleagues and all the members from the Pennsylvania 
delegation. Thank you so much for your keen interest in this 
and, Mr. Chairman, thank you for focusing on this issue, 
especially in the advance of the midterm elections.
    I did have a couple of questions just for our witnesses, 
and they can answer them at their leisure, but No. 1, I noticed 
from state to state - and Mr. Chairman, you did enormous and 
yeoman's work on the postal reform bill. I do notice that for 
voting by mail, the standards are literally state by state. And 
while in Massachusetts, we have a bar code system that 
automatically prioritizes, you know, election mail, that is not 
the case in every district.
    And as the chairman pointed out, there are some deadline 
systems that have been passed by legislatures that do not wish 
to facilitate vote by mail that actually leave the post office 
a very slim opportunity to process the vote by mail system and 
the deadlines are so tight.
    So my question is, basically, what are we doing--and this 
is for the inspector general, as well as for postal 
leadership--what are we doing to prepare, perhaps harmonize 
that system across all 50 states, if possible? And what are we 
doing to prepare for any glitches that might occur in the 
upcoming elections given what we went through last time with 
the threat of the actual removal of high-speed sorting machines 
from many of our general mail facilities, what are we doing to 
prepare for that eventuality in the next election?
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman, again, for all your great 
leadership on this committee.
    And I yield back.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Lynch. And we're going to hold 
that question until we have sworn in the witnesses who cannot 
actually answer a question until they're sworn in, but we will 
make sure we cover that question if you're not still with us, 
Mr. Lynch.
    Mr. Lynch. Thank you.
    Mr. Connolly. The chair now wants to recognize members of 
the Pennsylvania delegation and calls on Mr. Boyle, Congressman 
Boyle for any three-minute opening statement he may have.
    Mr. Boyle. Well, thank you. And welcome to Pennsylvania's 
second congressional district. We are in my congressional 
district, which I'm honored to serve. I want to thank the staff 
of this committee, as well as my staff who worked hard in order 
to get us a location and make today possible. And I want to 
thank Temple University, which I'm also proud to represent, for 
hosting us.
    And I especially want to thank you, Chairman Connolly. I 
remember many months ago on the House floor talking to you 
about the issues that we were having specifically in the 
Philadelphia area for years now, but especially this year when 
it comes to mail delivery and all sorts of assorted issues, 
some of which you've already referenced.
    So I appreciate your responsiveness and you were saying 
that you would come up here and that we would hold a 
congressional committee hearing here in the Nation's 
birthplace, and it's a true honor for all of us in Philadelphia 
having a congressional committee leave Washington and hosting 
it elsewhere is obviously quite rare.
    So it is an honor here for us in this city. I want to share 
with you just a couple statistics to help put this in 
perspective what we're talking about.
    Now, I have four constituent service offices in 
Philadelphia from the far northeast to within walking distance 
of here on Girard Avenue. In 2019, obviously pre-pandemic, we 
had 60 postal service-related case works and complaints.
    In 2020 that spiked to 199. In 2021, fortunately, it 
dropped to 147. This year, however, 2022 with still four months 
to go, we are on pace to eclipse that 199 that we received in 
2020. So think about where we were in the pandemic in 2020 and 
2021 versus today, and yet this year is by far the worst for my 
constituents.
    So I think the conclusion is pretty unavoidable. While 
COVID-19 has presented extraordinary challenges over the past 2 
1/2 years, it seems quite clear that steps taken by Postmaster 
DeJoy and senior management at the Postal Service have clearly 
been inadequate to get service levels where they should be.
    Frankly, I have heard from constituents telling me that in 
their lifetime the Postal Service has never been in a worse 
shape. Louis DeJoy, you are no Benjamin Franklin. There is a 
reason why I and others of my colleagues have called for his 
termination. I reiterate that today.
    We need change at the very top of the Postal Service. I 
look forward to listening to the witnesses and discussing the 
myriad issues that have developed over the last several years.
    With that, again, I thank you, Chairman Connolly.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Connolly. What a pro. Right on time. Thank you so much, 
Congressman Boyle.
    I see our colleague, Congresswoman Lawrence, are you on?
    And all right. We'll come back to Congresswoman Lawrence.
    Senator Casey, I see that you are on and I know that you're 
in session in the Senate and under a tight schedule. So we're 
happy to recognize you for any opening statement you may have 
and welcome so much to this hearing of the subcommittee.
    Senator Casey. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for this 
opportunity and I'm really honored to be part of this hearing. 
I'm really grateful. This is a rare privilege for a senator to 
appear at a House hearing, and I'm grateful for the time. I'll 
try to be brief.
    I wanted to start by thanking you, Mr. Chairman, and the 
members of the committee for this opportunity for the important 
issues that are raised at this hearing. And I also want to 
recognize the terribly difficult challenges the Postal Service 
has faced over the last couple of years and to thank postal 
workers for preserving all of the--I should say, thank postal 
workers for persevering, is a better word, under these terribly 
difficult circumstances. They've worked very hard and it's a 
very difficult job they've done, especially in the midst of a 
pandemic and so many other challenges.
    And so we applaud those frontline postal workers for their 
service, but we cannot ignore, as you know better than I, the 
reports of systemic problems with the quality, the quality of 
mail service, from extended delays and delivery to mail theft, 
constituents all across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have 
reported Postal Service issues to my office just like all of 
yours.
    Just a couple of examples. My office received numerous 
reports from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania up in the northeast 
corner of our state. Representative Cartwright knows it well. 
Reports of delays and receiving all kinds of mail from 
prescriptions to paychecks. My office has also heard from 
numerous attorneys in both Montgomery and Dauphin Counties, who 
have serious concerns about significant delays in legal mail. 
Another situation which I know you've heard about is in 
Philadelphia, the Germantown Post Office, is a terrible example 
of how egregious and long-term many of the problems with the 
Postal Service is in Pennsylvania.
    So my constituents have been told or have told my office 
that delays have led to unnecessary hardships like paying late 
fees on missed bills, being unable to respond in a timely 
manner to critical documents, and despite repeated attempts by 
members of various communities in our state to resolve these 
issues with senior Postal Service officials, the reports of 
serious service issues have persisted.
    Now, I understand that these problems are difficult to 
solve, but we have to make a lot more progress than we've made 
over the last couple of years. Pennsylvanians, just like every 
other constituents in every other state, rely on the Postal 
Service whether it's to communicate with loved ones or engage 
in business or receive critical documents or even medical 
supplies.
    And we know that quality service that is timely, that's 
secure, and is responsive is essential for all of our 
constituents. I believe the Postal Service can provide the 
quality service that Americans deserve, and I look forward to 
the opportunity to support the Postal Service as it seeks to 
improve, improve service quality. But we've got a lot of work 
to do and these answers, answers to these questions have to be 
responded to like all of the members of the committee have 
begun to outline.
    So Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for this time and 
allowing me to be part of it.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Senator Casey. And thank 
you for being with us today and for your commitment to the 
whole plethora of postal issues that matter so much to the 
people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and all Americans. 
So thank you.
    The chair now recognizes subcommittee member and one of the 
great leaders in postal reform and a former postal worker 
herself, the Honorable Brenda Lawrence of Michigan. Welcome, 
Ms. Lawrence.
    Mrs. Lawrence. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you 
for yielding. First, I want to thank the subcommittee for 
organizing this field hearing in Philadelphia to examine the 
issues of mail delivery performance, worker safety, and efforts 
to reduce mail theft and more.
    The Postal Service is the only organization and company or 
Federal agency that touches every single home in America six 
days a week. The U.S. Constitution even stressed the necessity 
of safe and speedy mail delivery. That is why we must take 
every step possible to protect our postal workers to ensure 
their safety while they execute on their duties.
    It is an important part of American history and life. And 
of all the things that we do to keep our economy going, this is 
a very important role. I spent 30 years as a member of the 
United States Postal Service family. I recall the pride and the 
sense of responsibility in delivering the mail, but I also had 
a great expectation and faith in our postal police and 
inspectors. And I want to be thankful to all of them and to the 
witnesses who are before us today.
    All of us have a critical role to play. So thank you to the 
U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and for the 
work that you do in ensuring efficient mail delivery and 
safeguarding the integrity of the postal system for almost 30 
years and to the Post Office Police Officers Association whose 
primary job is to prevent and respond to postal-related crime, 
yes.
    The Postal Service is too first responder in protecting 
what we call the United States Postal Service. I look forward 
to hearing about your experiences and seeing what 
recommendations you have to offer. Thank you for all that you 
do.
    And Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Mrs. Lawrence. And we look 
forward to working with you even out of Congress on these vital 
issues.
    The chair now recognizes the distinguished gentleman from 
Scranton, Pennsylvania where the chair went to high school, Mr. 
Cartwright. Welcome.
    Mr. Cartwright. Well, thank you to subcommittee chair, 
Gerry Connolly, for convening this hearing. And thank you to my 
fellow members of the Pennsylvania delegation and 
representatives from the United States Postal Service for being 
here.
    Over the past two years, my office has seen a record number 
of constituent calls and case work requests for assistance with 
the mail and package delivery. Hundreds of constituents have 
called in my office, written letters, responded to my online 
survey, sent emails to express their concerns about the USPS.
    We've heard horror stories from constituents who are told 
by their local post offices that first-class mail is going 
unsorted and there aren't enough carriers to cover all the 
routes, all of this resulting in astonishing delays in 
delivery.
    Constituents in communities across my district, the eighth 
congressional district of Pennsylvania, have reported going 
more than two days without mail, despite a promise made to my 
office that no household should go more than one day without a 
delivery.
    Earlier this year, residents of South Abington Township in 
Pennsylvania, just north of Scranton, were going 10 to 12 days 
without mail. Not only were there reports of package and mail 
delivery being poor and unreliable, but also the same thing at 
post office locations. Hours were shortened, locations were 
closed for days without notice. The Bushkill post office in my 
district was closed for five consecutive days earlier this 
year.
    Look, people rely on the mail and the Postal Service to 
conduct the business of their daily lives, to get their 
medication, to pay their bills, to receive the benefit checks 
that they're owed. And the answer is not just a pad, oh, you 
should use online banking or get direct deposit. No. The answer 
is holding the U.S. Postal Service accountable to do their job 
while also listening to their concerns or needs for additional 
resources.
    I've worked directly with the USPS on this to get the 
issues resolved, including meeting directly with Gary 
Vaccarella. Glad to see Gary is on this Zoom and other members 
of his staff, but, unfortunately, I have to tell you, these 
issues are ongoing. I've demanded solutions for my 
constituents, but the complaints keep coming in and it seems 
like as one community's issue appears to resolve, another 
community in my district reports delivery delays, problems at 
their post office locations, or other issues.
    I think everybody here can agree that we're on the same 
page of wanting reliable, expeditious mail and package 
delivery. We want the post office to work.
    I'm glad you're having this hearing, Chairman Connolly. I 
hope we have a productive one and work toward solutions to 
better serve the people of Pennsylvania.
    Yield back.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Cartwright. Again, a pro. 
Right on time.
    The chair now recognizes the other Representative across 
the street from Temple University right here, the Honorable 
Dwight Evans, for his opening remarks.
    Mr. Evans. Thank you, Chairman Connolly.
    Chairman Connolly, when you mentioned our colleague Lynch 
name, I thought of a gentleman, a former speaker of the House, 
and it's very appropriate that you have that all politics are 
local.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to begin by thanking all of 
today's witnesses, the U.S. Postal Service is one of the most 
important agencies in the United States. I'm glad to see that 
we are taking the recent troubles in Postal Service performance 
seriously.
    Over the past two years, my district has dramatic increases 
in the amount of loss or stolen mail, undelivered packages, 
post office closures, and poor performance by the local post 
office. My constituents like the constituents in every 
congressional district relies on the USPS for timely delivery, 
important financial documents, medication, voter registration 
forms, ballots, paychecks, rent, utilities, small business 
deliveries, and more, yet my office have received hundreds, I 
repeat hundreds of complaints regarding delivery of these items 
to residents and businesses.
    And when we have discussed these concerns with local USPS 
leadership on numerous occasions we have not received 
satisfactory responses. A particular concern is the status of 
the Germantown Station Post Office located on Green Street, 
which have received numerous complaints regarding poor 
performance.
    The Green Street Post Office has reported numerous losses, 
damage, stolen mail. Many constituents have come to me seeking 
assistance when their expected delivery never arrives. These 
issues have prevented senior citizens in their apartments from 
receiving medication and Social Security.
    Furthermore, the staff of at the Germantown Post Office has 
failed to adequately respond to the constituent concerns 
leaving my residents confused and unable to access Postal 
Service. Now, we all recognize that there will be the 
occasional hiccups in delivering any service to American 
people, but this type of unresponsiveness and lack of urgency 
on behalf of the USPS is simply inexplicit.
    Repeated incidents like this will only worsen Americans' 
faith in this Postal Service and in the government's ability, 
more broadly, to do what's needed to be done to protect them.
    When my office is written to and spoken with, I have found 
the responses inadequate. So I say, Mr. Chairman, I thank you 
for your leadership at bringing it here to Philadelphia where a 
gentleman by the name of Ben Franklin took the lead.
    So I'm here to work together with you and your leadership. 
And thank you for this opportunity.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much. I thank you for your 
commitment to your constituents' plight and commitment to 
trying to resolve these issues and find solutions.
    The chair now recognizes the gentlelady from Chester?
    Ms. Scanlon. No. Delaware County, Philadelphia.
    Mr. Connolly. Delaware County. Oh, part of Chester?
    Ms. Scanlon. city of Chester.
    Mr. Connolly. city of Chester. I got that right. Mary Gay 
Scanlon.
    Ms. Scanlon. Thank you, Chairman Connolly. And we're really 
grateful for you bringing this hearing to Philadelphia, not 
just because it's the birthplace of the post office, but 
because we've seen so many issues in this region over the last 
few years.
    You know, as we know, the Postal Service has been plagued 
with service issues since the installation of Postmaster DeJoy 
in June 2020. I'm extremely concerned about the degradation of 
service which we've seen and concerned that it will continue, 
particularly with the announcement of this new plan to close 
and consolidate a couple hundred local sorting and delivery 
operations, including many in the Philadelphia area.
    This is important because the U.S. Postal Service is an 
essential public service that Americans, small businesses, and 
government agencies rely upon. We need to make sure that people 
can receive and pay their bills in a timely way, conduct 
business, get their medications from the VA, and that 
government agencies can send out and receive tax bills and 
other important government documents.
    What we've seen under Postmaster DeJoy is an approach to 
the Postal Service that prioritizes alleged efficiencies over 
service. We've seen changes that are more appropriate to 
running a private business that provides overnight delivery for 
champagne or crudites or other luxury items rather than for an 
agency that provides an essential public service.
    So today I'd like to focus on some of the issues that my 
constituents have been experiencing and I would note, again, 
that we have received more communications, whether mail, email, 
telephone calls, or getting stopped on the street about service 
issues over the last few years than any other issue my office 
has heard about.
    You know, the Philadelphia region has experienced some of 
the worst rates of on-time mail delivery in the Nation with an 
on-time delivery rate of just 61.9 percent in the third quarter 
of Fiscal Year 2021. We fielded hundreds of calls and messages 
from constituents regarding late delays or non-delivery of the 
types of items I've mentioned.
    While delivery rates have improved nationwide and in 
Pennsylvania, some of this appears to be only because the 
goalposts were moved. They were given more time to make on-time 
delivery. This was particularly concerning as the delays 
escalated during the 2020 Presidential election and delayed the 
receipt and return of mail-in ballots.
    And we want to make sure those delays do not recur during 
this midterm election.
    We've seen related to these service issues, closures of 
post offices which close without notice during the day due to 
staff shortages or other issues. That means a small business 
owner or employee who runs to the post office during her lunch 
break cannot pay bills or mail products to a consumer or 
customer.
    In a related service issue, we've seen increases in postal 
mail theft and crime. Municipalities and constituents alike 
have come to me with stories of stolen checks that have been 
washed and repurposed for different amounts to different 
payees. So we need to examine why Postmaster DeJoy has 
prioritized eliminating postal police.
    Public concern about check theft then relates back to the 
fact that it's all the more important that people are able to 
get in-person services at their post offices. And last, I want 
to raise the long-standing inaccessibility issues at the 
Chester, Pennsylvania Post Office in Delaware County, which my 
constituent, Susan Dennis, spoke to in the video at the outset.
    That post office was built in 1937, 85 years ago and has 
not been renovated significantly since then. It has no publicly 
accessible ramps or lifts, effectively barring customers with 
mobility impairment from transacting businesses. This isn't a 
small facility. It serves a city of more than 30,000, a 
majority-minority community with a poverty rate in excess of 30 
percent. Many of whom are dependent on public transit and 
services that can be accessed through the post office.
    I've contacted the USPS about this repeatedly for the past 
year and, in particular, have asked that the Postal Service 
give full and fair consideration to doing a retrofit for the 
facility, a request that the Postal Service has ignored. So I'm 
deeply concerned that there's no plan, long-term plan, to 
address these discretionary accessibility upgrades.
    I'm, once again, requesting that the Postal Service address 
these concerns by creating a plan to do so. And I will be 
sending a letter, along with Chairman Connolly, and thank you 
for his interest immediately following this hearing.
    Our veterans, our seniors, our municipal authorities rely 
upon the Postal Service as an essential public service and it's 
important that it be able to serve everyone.
    Thank you.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Congresswoman Scanlon. And 
thank you for your particular focus on the Chester Post Office 
in Delaware County. We really appreciate your commitment to 
your constituents in trying to make sure that everyone has 
access.
    The distinguished gentlelady from the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania, Madeleine Dean, is recognized for any opening 
statement she may have.
    Ms. Dean. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm Madeleine Dean. I 
represent the fourth congressional district, Montgomery and 
Berks Counties. I want my counties to get their fair shout out.
    Thank you, Mr. Connolly, for bringing this important 
oversight hearing to Philadelphia, a field hearing on the 
important issues surrounding the Postal Service, access to the 
Postal Service to all of our constituents and I'm very pleased 
that you chose to have it here at Temple University, home to 
my--it's my husband's alma mater, so thank you, Temple, for 
having us here today.
    I want to start by saying my admiration for the Postal 
Service, for those who work in and around the Postal Service.
    You are critically important to all of us. We learned that, 
perhaps, the harder way through a pandemic, through COVID, and 
a global economic closure, but it really reminds me of the 
Postal Service's roots that you so eloquently described, Mr. 
Connolly.
    Ben Franklin, before the formation of this country, was a 
part of the Postal Service deputy postmaster and he wanted to 
make it more democratic, with a small D. More egalitarian. 
We're here today to say let's go back and take a look. Is the 
Postal Service able to operate in that egalitarian way to serve 
all of our residents?
    Like everyone here, my constituents service case work 
around the Postal Service is way up this year. To date we are 
three times the number of Postal Service cases as of all of 
last year, three times the number and it's just September.
    Some of the complaints that we are hearing are work force 
shortages, of course, the chronic problem of not enough, not 
consistent daily delivery, not consistent hours of operation in 
some of our post offices, the worry of closure or consolidation 
of post offices making the Postal Service farther from my 
constituents. Critically important, as we saw in the past 
election, was the protection of and speedy delivery of mail-in 
ballots. Like my colleagues here, mail theft has been a 
complaint among my interestingly my tax collectors have called 
us to say incoming receipts of taxes have been missing, COVID 
relief and stimulus checks missing, prescriptions delayed or 
missing.
    So what I'm here to say is, I'm interested in finding out 
what works and what doesn't work. And I'm proud to be part of 
the reform for the Postal Service and making sure we hold 
leadership accountable.
    Again, welcome to Philadelphia. It's so good to be here at 
the birthplace of the Postal Service, and I thank all of our 
witnesses.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Congresswoman Dean. And thank you 
for your commitment, and we look forward to working with you as 
well. Last, but certainly not least, the Congresswoman who, in 
fact, represents Chester County, Chrissy Houlahan. Welcome, 
Congresswoman Houlahan.
    Ms. Houlahan. Very, very proudly represents Chester and 
Berks County for the shoutout of the day. Thank you, Chairman 
Connolly, and thank you very much for the subcommittee for 
bringing this important hearing to the Commonwealth and to this 
wonderful city of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.
    My district, as you mentioned, is Chester and Berks County. 
I serve the sixth congressional district. It's about 45 minutes 
from here is the beginning of the district between Valley Forge 
and the mushroom farms of Kennett Square and it stretches all 
the way up to the city of Reading.
    I have the opportunity to be able to represent that 
district and I'm enormously proud of it, but in my community, 
seniors are depending, just like you've heard from other 
people, on the post office for deliveries like prescription 
drugs or rural businesses are counting on us to be able to 
deliver goods and services. Students are relying on the Postal 
Service for voting by mail and, of course, veterans like myself 
are also reliant on the mail for a lot of other service 
deliveries as well.
    Listen, you're going to hear, you have heard the same thing 
over and over again. So I don't want to beat a dead horse, but 
in Oxford, Pennsylvania, in my community, the post office has 
been shuttered in the middle of the day due to lack of staff 
and facilities like Mary Gay mentioned, Representative Scanlon 
mentioned, are literally falling apart in places like West 
Chester in my district. They don't have accessible access for 
people with disabilities.
    So I'm here at this hearing to try to get some answers on 
behalf of my constituents and my community who really depend on 
this very critical government service.
    I'm really grateful to see both sides of the aisle today 
coming together once again, to understand and seek out those 
common-sense solutions to the challenges that we face in our 
Postal Service.
    With that, I will say this year, tens of thousands of 
Pennsylvanians will be using our Postal Service as was 
mentioned earlier to deliver their ballots for November's 
elections. However, our Commonwealth in my community deserves a 
well-functioning Postal Service each and every day, regardless 
of the month, of the year, or the particular day of the week. I 
want very much to thank our witnesses today for shedding light 
on how we can ensure that the post office remains a reliable 
and accessible source of mail delivery for everyone. I very 
much look forward to our conversation.
    I will end with 45 seconds to spare and yield that to the 
service of the committee. Thank you very much, Chairman, for 
the opportunity to speak.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Ms. Houlahan. And thank 
you for mentioning the bipartisan nature of how we have 
responded to this set of issues in Congress because that's 
true. The Postal Reform Act that was passed into law this year 
after 16 long years of struggle was a bipartisan bill and we 
really appreciate that. And Mr. Fitzpatrick certainly played a 
role in that as well on the Republican side.
    So I think that's really important that we--these are 
issues that face our constituents and they don't have a 
Democrat or Republican label to them.
    We are now going to hear from our witnesses. I thank you 
for your patience. We have 11 members participating in this 
hearing, including the United States Senator, Mr. Casey. That 
is unusual to have that kind of level of participation in a 
field hearing.
    And so we wanted to make sure everyone, especially those 
representing this area, had an opportunity to lay out for their 
constituents and for all of us how they saw this set of issues 
and how it's affecting their constituents. We have four 
witnesses and I'm going to ask all of our witnesses present to 
stand and raise their right hand and the witness, Mr. 
Vaccarella, I guess, who's on Zoom--who's on Zoom? I'm sorry. 
Vaccarella, if you'd raise your right hand as well, it is the 
custom of this subcommittee to swear in witnesses.
    Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and 
nothing but the truth so help you God?
    Let the record show all of our witnesses have answered in 
the affirmative. Thank you so much.
    Our first witness today will be Gary Vaccarella, the 
region's district manager for the Postal Service. Then we'll 
hear from Melinda Perez, who's testified before the 
subcommittee before, who's the assistant inspector general for 
audit at the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General. 
Then we'll hear from Ivan Butts, National President of the 
National Association of Postal Supervisors and a son of 
Philadelphia where his career began. Finally, will hear from 
Frank Albergo, National President of the Postal Police Officers 
Association, which has a lot of issues in front of it that 
concern all of us.
    The Postal Service also has additional subject matter 
experts available on our Zoom platform to respond to member 
questions that may be outside of Mr. Vaccarella's expertise. 
Those additional experts are Peter Rendina, deputy chief 
inspector of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Adrienne 
Marshall, director of the election and government mail, David 
Webster, senior director processing operations for the Postal 
Services Chesapeake division.
    So with that, I would now call upon Mr. Vaccarella for his 
five minutes of testimony. Mr. Vaccarella.

  STATEMENT OF GARY VACCARELLA, DE-PA2 DISTRICT MANAGER, U.S. 
                         POSTAL SERVICE

    Mr. Vaccarella. Thank you. Good morning, Chairman Connolly, 
Ranking Member Hice, Acting Ranking Member Fitzpatrick, members 
of the subcommittee, and members of the Pennsylvania 
delegation.
    Thank you for the opportunity to discuss our commitment to 
service excellent. Our preparedness for the upcoming 2022 
election cycle and our initiatives to protect the safety and 
security of the mail system and those who work in it. We 
recognize that your constituents depend on the Postal Service 
for timely and reliable mail service.
    My name is Gary Vaccarella. I am currently the district 
manager for the Delaware/Pennsylvania 2 District. Began my 
postal career as a clerk in 1985 at the Fort Pierce, Florida 
post office. Previously served as the district manager of 
western New York district, postmaster of Baltimore, Maryland, 
postmaster of Orlando, Florida, and various other leadership 
positions throughout the organization. Also joining me today 
are colleagues from processing operation, election, and 
government mail, and the United States Postal Service, who will 
answer subject specific questions you may have.
    Service performance in Pennsylvania is strong. My district 
and the Pennsylvania 1 district constantly rank among the 
highest performing districts in the country with recent service 
scores reliably exceeding 90 percent for mail and packaged 
products.
    In fact, to further illustrate our reliability, the current 
average day to deliver mail in Pennsylvania when compared to 
pre-pandemic averages has remained steady for first-class mail 
and has improved for marketing mail.
    Flight path challenges in some areas of Pennsylvania 
customers can reliably expect Postal Service to deliver mail 
and packages in a timely manner. Where there have been some 
isolated incidents of past service disruptions due largely to 
employee availability issues, we have taken proactive steps. 
These include hiring more carriers, loaning delivery employees 
from other areas to understaffed units whenever possible and 
monitoring daily staffing levels.
    In Pennsylvania, we have hired 2,962 city carrier 
assistants, 1,363 rural carrier assistants, and 1,704 postal 
support employees over the past 12 months. These pre-career 
representatives of our work force perform the same duties as 
career carriers and clerks. These positions are often a gateway 
to career positions.
    Turning to election preparedness as highlighted in my 
written testimony, the Postal Service successfully managed and 
delivered unprecedented ballot mail buy-ins for the American 
public during the 2020 election cycle.
    On average in 2020, we delivered ballots to voters in 2.1 
days and ballots from voters to election officials in just 1.6 
days.
    We also delivered ballots effectively in 2021. For the 
2022-cycle, we have already conducted proactive and robust 
outreach to state and local election officials, including 
outreach to election officials in Pennsylvania. So far in 2022, 
delivery time has been 1.79 days for ballots from election 
officials to voters and one day to deliver completed ballots 
from voters to election officials.
    Regarding mail security and employee safety. It is a top 
priority for the organization. We share community concerns 
about recent increases in mail theft from collection boxes and 
robberies of letter carriers in Pennsylvania and other areas of 
the country.
    The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is a Federal law 
enforcement and security arm of the Postal Service, and postal 
inspectors are authorized to investigate and make arrests both 
on and off postal premises. Postal inspectors work to bring 
offenders to justice and make thousands arrests each year. 
Inspection service is also working to improve collection box 
security with key and lock enhancements.
    We are aware of legislative proposals to expand the 
jurisdiction of postal police officers, or PPOs. However, PPOs 
are assigned to certain facilities because the inspection 
service has determined that these facilities require the 
presence of uniformed, trained, and armed officers.
    Removing those officers from Postal Service property would 
increase the security risks to those facilities. Inspection 
service determined that allowing PPOs to patrol the streets 
would not decrease mail theft or improve letter carrier safety. 
It is the role of the postal inspectors to investigate these 
crimes. PPOs serve as a vital role in the security of the 
Nation's mail system and that function should not be 
compromised through a modification of authority that would be 
tracked from the protection of the greatest number of postal 
employees, customers, and property.
    In conclusion, service performance in Pennsylvania has 
improved since the height of the pandemic and our national and 
state service force for first-class mail, marketing mail, and 
competitive products remain strong. The Postal Service also 
stands ready to ensure successful 2022 election cycle. 
Moreover, the inspection service is faithfully executing their 
mission to protect the Nation's mail.
    I want to thank the members of the subcommittee and members 
of the Pennsylvania delegation for holding this hearing. The 
supporting witnesses and I look forward to your questions.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you very much, Mr. Vaccarella.
    Ms. Perez, you are now recognized for your five minutes of 
testimony, and I should note, all of your full statements will, 
of course, be entered into the record in full.
    Ms. Perez?

  STATEMENT OF MELINDA PEREZ, ASSISTANT INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR 
     AUDIT, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

    Ms. Perez. Thank you, and good morning, Chairman Connolly, 
Ranking Member Hice, Acting Ranking Member Fitzpatrick, members 
of the subcommittee, and the Pennsylvania delegation.
    Thank you for inviting me here today to discuss our work 
related to the Postal Service's delivery performance and 
efforts to address mail theft.
    Our mission is to ensure the efficiency, accountability, 
and integrity in our Nation's Postal Service. We take our 
mission very seriously.
    Looking at service performance starting in Fiscal Year 
2018, Philadelphia's scores were relatively close to the 
national average for most categories of mail until the fall of 
2020. Then the timeliness of mail delivery in Philadelphia 
experienced a significant decline.
    While the Nation overall experienced mail delays during 
this time, Philadelphia was hit especially hard. Service 
performance in Philadelphia has improved since that time, and 
the most recently released data shows its First Class mail 
scores are near or above the national average. However, there 
may still be problems with mail delays in certain locations.
    Philadelphia was not alone in facing major service 
disruptions in the winter of 2020. We looked at service 
performance in 17 districts, including Philadelphia, over this 
timeframe.
    The specific issues we identified in Philadelphia were 
similar to what we found in other locations 09 problems with 
employee availability, loss of capacity to move mail on 
commercial networks, and dot congestion contributing to mail 
being sent late to other postal facilities.
    We know timely mail delivery is important to the American 
public. In response to concerns, we stood up a new audit group, 
the field operations review team, to conduct targeted facility 
reviews in locations with service challenges.
    As part of these reviews, we perform a cluster of audits, 
visiting one mail processing plant and three to four post 
offices at the same time.
    This allows us to get a better understanding of issues that 
span both processing and delivery, an increasingly important 
focus of our work now that these functions fall under different 
postal executives.
    These reviews provide quick evaluations, ensuring timely 
and meaningful results to Postal Service management and our 
stakeholders.
    This year we completed site visits at eight clusters in the 
western and central areas of the country and found issues 
related to late and extra trips, scanning performance, delayed 
mail, cluttered processing floors, and poor facility conditions 
at many retail and delivery units.
    Our work in Fiscal Year 2023 will focus on the southern and 
eastern parts of the country, including the Philadelphia area.
    Timely mail delivery becomes even more important as 
elections draw near. We have an open audit looking at the 
Postal Service's readiness for the 2022 midterm election.
    In addition to conducting observations at postal 
facilities, we are evaluating whether the Postal Service 
effectively took corrective action in response to our prior 
recommendations.
    In addition, as we have done in the past, we will be 
conducting field visits across the country in the weeks leading 
up to and the week prior to the midterm elections. We will 
provide the Postal Service near real-time feedback and 
subsequently publish a report on our findings.
    Along with service challenges, mail theft is also a growing 
concern. We recently initiated an audit that will analyze 
trends and evaluate the efforts the Postal Service and Postal 
Inspection Service are taking to prevent and respond to mail 
theft.
    Our Office of Investigations also focuses significant 
efforts in this area. We have several recent investigations 
into mail theft by postal employees around Philadelphia, 
involving stolen Treasury checks and gift cards.
    One cause of recent increases in mail theft is the 
challenge around arrow key accountability as we reported in 
August 2020.
    Arrow keys are used by postal workers to open blue 
collection boxes and neighborhood delivery box units. Subjects 
are stealing arrow keys or approaching postal employees and 
offering to pay them to sell or loan them their keys.
    To address this issue, our Office of Investigations has 
initiated Operation Secure Arrow, a multi-faceted effort to 
identify and investigate employees involved in the theft and 
mishandling of arrow keys. This includes employing data 
analytics, focusing on employees who are misusing arrow keys, 
and collaborating with the inspection service.
    We currently have 20 open investigations related to this 
problem, and these investigations have already resulted in five 
criminal prosecutions and seven administrative actions.
    Sending and receiving mail without fear of it being delayed 
or stolen is critical to an effective postal system. We 
appreciate the opportunity to discuss our work, and I am happy 
to answer your questions.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Ms. Perez.
    Mr. Butts, you are recognized for your five minutes of 
summary testimony. Welcome.

  STATEMENT OF IVAN BUTTS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF 
                       POSTAL SUPERVISORS

    Mr. Butts. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Connolly, and 
members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to provide 
the views of the National Association of Postal Supervisors 
regarding postal performance and the safety and security of 
postal personnel, property, and the mail.
    My name is Ivan Butts. I am honored to serve as president 
of the National Association of Postal Supervisors, representing 
approximately 48,000 postal supervisors, managers, and 
postmasters.
    Chairman Connolly, permit me to thank you for your 
leadership in championing two pieces of legislation that are 
important to NAPS members--H.R. 1623, the Postal Managers and 
Supervisors Fairness Act, and H.R. 1624, the Postal Employees 
Appeal Rights Amendment Act.
    These measures provide fairness and paid consultation and 
due process rights to executive and administrative schedule 
postal employees.
    As we approach the 2022 election season, absentee ballots 
continue to be a popular and secure alternative to in-person 
voting. For this reason, NAPS supports H.R. 1307, the Vote by 
Mail Tracking Act, which would require each state to use a 
standard envelope design and distinct barcode that enables the 
tracking of each individual ballot.
    Postal performance is immensely important to NAPS members. 
As such, NAPS is concerned about the effects of the USPS 
recently announced plan to consolidate and realign mail 
processing operations throughout the country.
    Members of Congress from Pennsylvania should know this 
proposal would impact mail processing and delivery in southeast 
Pennsylvania throughout--through the consolidation of 12 USPS 
associated offices into the tri-county facility.
    We believe, consistent with the law, the Postal Service 
should be transparent with regards to the reasons it's deciding 
to initiate this plan, what are the specific goals of the plan, 
what are the cost savings. If so, how much will be saved, and 
how will success be measured.
    NAPS contends that these are requirements of the Postal 
Accountability and Enhancement Act, as well as the agency's 
handbook, PO-408408.
    The delivery unit optimization plan initiated by the Postal 
Service in 2010 and revised in 2013 exhibits the same 
operational objectives as the soon-to-be-implemented Sort and 
Delivery Center consolidation plan.
    In August 2014, the Postal Inspector General casts serious 
doubts about the projected cost savings attributed to Duo.
    In addition, the IG recorded the USPS' failure to comply 
with guidelines and inability to provide a rationale for 
specific consolidations.
    Furthermore, the IG made recommendations related to the Duo 
plan. However, the Post Office dismissed those recommendations.
    Duo was the prolog for two other postal actions that slowed 
mail delivery down, post plan, in reduced service to rural 
carriers and the plant consolidations which caused mail service 
to fall off the cliff.
    NAPS is calling on congressional oversight necessary to 
ensure that the present, proposed consolidation and realignment 
plan is not Duo on steroids.
    Oversight is necessary to ensure that the USPS plans will 
not increase USPS expenses. Consequently, we request the 
Congress to require the Postal Service to suspend the plan 
until a transparent and comprehensive analysis can be 
completed.
    Finally, the security of the mail and the protection of 
postal personnel and property is under threat. Two years ago, 
the Postal Inspection Service narrowed the Postal Police 
Force's authority, restricting it to investigating only crimes 
committed on postal property. This change exposed postal 
employees, postal vehicles, and mail to crime.
    Representatives Garbarino and Norton introduced legislation 
clarifying Federal law authorization, authorizing Postal Police 
to protect postal personnel, postal property, and U.S. Mail 
beyond the perimeter of postal-owned and leased properties.
    Our support of such legislation came with a price. With me 
today is retired Police Captain Butch Maynard, the President of 
NAPS Branch 51, who we believe was forced to retire from his 
position in the Postal Police due to the Inspection Service 
retaliation against him for support of the Postal Police 
legislation.
    The Postal Inspection Service conducted a nationwide review 
of Postal Police divisions that culminated with the abolishment 
of one of its division--the Newark division, the division 
managed by Captain Maynard. These operations were transferred 
to a smaller division here in Philadelphia.
    Captain Maynard was the only management employee negatively 
impacted by the realignment. NAPS believes the act of 
retaliation against him for the lawful exercising of his First 
Amendment Acts is worthy of further congressional inquiry.
    Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear 
before you today. NAPS looks forward to working with the 
committee to sustain a vital, sustainable, and vibrant post 
office. I look forward to your questions.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Mr. Butts. We appreciate 
your testimony, and we will followup.
    Mr. Albergo, you're our fourth and final witness. You are 
recognized for your five minutes of summary testimony. Welcome.

 STATEMENT OF FRANK ALBERGO, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, POSTAL POLICE 
                      OFFICERS ASSOCIATION

    Mr. Albergo. Good morning, Chairman Connolly, and the other 
members attending today's hearing. On behalf of the Nation's 
Postal Police officers, we thank you for calling attention to 
the dramatic rise in mail theft experienced by so many 
Americans, as well as equally disturbing trend in violent 
crimes perpetrated against postal employees.
    My name is Frank Albergo, and I serve as the national 
president of the Postal Police Officers Association. The PPOA 
represents uniform Postal Police officers employed by the 
United States Postal Inspection Service.
    The Postal Police force began at this very location, 
Philadelphia's Temple University, which on December 9th of 
1970, graduated the first class of 30 Postal Police officers.
    Simply put, wherever and whenever Postal Police officers 
have been deployed, an immediate and significant reduction in 
postal-related crime results.
    The Inspection Service has two kind of law enforcement 
officers--Postal Police officers, also referred to as PPOs, and 
postal inspectors. The roles of PPOs and postal inspectors are 
akin to uniformed police officers and plain-clothed detectives 
in a municipal police force.
    Postal inspectors are among the best criminal investigators 
working today. However, they show up after crimes have been 
committed and the scene secure.
    By contrast, PPOs deter postal crimes so that costly 
followup investigations become unnecessary.
    In short, PPOs specialize in crime prevention, not after-
the-fact criminal investigations.
    In fact, protecting postal workers and the U.S. Mail, away 
from postal property was once the core function of the Postal 
Police Force.
    Despite the well documented success of Postal Police 
patrols, in 2020, the Postal Service stripped Postal Police 
officers of their law enforcement authority and began gutting 
the Postal Police Force.
    This was done during a pay dispute with the PPOA and three 
months before a national election.
    Once 2,700 officers strong, Postal Police ranks have been 
decimated to approximately 350 rank-and-file officers. In fact, 
our police force has been reduced by 20 percent since 2020.
    During his recent state of the Union Address, President 
Biden said, we should all agree, the answer is not to defund 
the police. The answer is to fund the police with the resources 
and training they need to protect our communities.
    Apparently, the Postal Service thinks the President is 
wrong. Indeed, the Postal Service is actively defunding its 
uniform police force. Here are the facts.
    After 50 years, the Inspection Service revoked the policing 
power of Postal Police officers while they are away from postal 
real property.
    After 50 years, all proactive, Postal Police mail theft 
prevention and letter carrier protection patrols have been 
eliminated.
    After 50 years, the Inspection Service has prohibited PPOs 
from responding to any and all postal-related crimes occurring 
away from postal realestate.
    Nineteen of 21 Postal Police divisions are severely below 
the budgeted complement. Nationwide rank-and-file PPOs are at 
less than 62 percent of the budgeted complement.
    The Inspection Service has eliminated entire Postal Police 
tours in Detroit, Memphis, Oakland, San Francisco, St. Louis, 
Washington, DC, and even here in Philadelphia.
    In other words, for the first time in 50 years, Postal 
Police operations no longer support 24-hour policing coverage.
    Since 2020, the PPO attrition rate has far exceeded the 
hiring rate, and there is absolutely no plan to reverse the 
trend.
    In March 2021, the Postal Service paid for a private 
contractor, Booz Allen Hamilton, to rubber-stamp the absurd 
recommendation to eliminate nearly all Postal Police divisions 
and positions.
    Given our attrition rate, in all likelihood, there will be 
fewer than 300 rank-and-file PPOs by the year 2024 unless 
changes are made. The current structure of the Postal 
Inspection Service has almost four times the number of postal 
inspectors as bargaining unit PPOs.
    Plainly, the Inspection Service has it backward. It is 
simply better, in every respect, to prevent crime than 
investigate crime. For every postal inspector hired, the Postal 
Service could've hired two PPOs are drastically less cost.
    Many of the crimes targeting our Nation's letter carriers 
and the U.S. Mail could be prevented by simply having PPOs 
patrol specific areas with high rates of postal crime.
    This is not a novel idea. Local Postal Inspection Service 
managers have continuously expressed the need to hire more PPOs 
and then utilize those officers to protect postal employees and 
the mail away from postal facilities.
    In other words, the people on the ground, the people who 
actually manage local Inspection Service operations, believe 
that deploying PPOs away from postal facilities can and will 
make a difference.
    The Postal Service, perhaps America's most beloved Federal 
institution, is in peril. Postal crime has spiraled out of 
control, postal workers are being attacked, and mail is being 
stolen at unprecedented levels.
    It is obvious that the Postal Inspection Service is doing 
very little about it. In fact, the Inspection Service has begun 
the process of defunding its uniform police force during an 
unparalleled postal crime wave.
    Americans deserve to have their mail protected, and postal 
employees deserve to feel safe while they're at work. The 
Postal Service must effectively utilize all of its resources to 
stop the plague of mail theft and stop the attacks on postal 
workers.
    It is obvious to everyone, except the Postal Service, that 
Postal Police officers are the most effective resource to 
accomplish this goal.
    In 1772, Pennsylvania's own Benjamin Franklin, in effect, 
created the Inspection Service, making it America's first and 
oldest law enforcement agency. It's time that the Inspection 
Service realign its priorities and enter into the 21st century 
of policing and law enforcement.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Albergo. And it is indeed an 
odd law enforcement strategy to have skyrocketing crime rates, 
both personal violence and theft rates among customers, and the 
solution is to shrink the police forces charged with trying to 
solve those crimes and deter them. We'll explore that during 
this hearing.
    Before we get into questioning--and Ms. Norton will go 
first--I want to recognize George Kenney, representing Temple 
University. We want to thank Temple University for their 
extraordinary hospitality. They're providing refreshment, 
they're providing extraordinary staff support, and your welcome 
could not be warmer and more hospitable.
    George, what would you like to say on behalf of Temple 
University?
    Mr. Kenney. Chairman Connolly, thank you for visiting 
Temple, I know this is your first visit, and welcome back to my 
friends of the Pennsylvania delegation. They've all been here 
before.
    Temple, one of Pennsylvania's largest public research 
institutions, happy to have you here, you're welcome back 
anytime. You and your staff have been great to work with.
    Just for a fun fact, we have about 40,000 students. I hope 
you get a chance to spend a little time on campus today and see 
the activity. But most of all, thank you for the support the 
Pennsylvania--U.S. House of Representatives has given higher 
ed, both for the benefited students and the research dollars 
you send across America to benefit all Americans. So thank you 
for your work. Thank you.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, George, and thank you 
again to everybody associated with Temple University for your 
extraordinary hospitality. We could not do this today without 
your support and help, and it's been wonderful, so thank you.
    The chair now recognizes the Congresswoman from the 
District of Columbia, Eleanor Holmes Norton, for her five 
minutes of questioning.
    Ms. Norton. Thank you again, Chairman Connolly, for holding 
this important hearing.
    Mail theft has become a large issue in the Nation's 
capital, right here in the District of Columbia, particularly 
the theft of checks through stolen universal keys. My questions 
are going to be for Mr. Albergo.
    I understand that several regions of the Postal Service--of 
the Postal Police rather, had believed they had the statutory 
authority to protect the mail, postal property, and postal 
employees wherever they are located.
    However, the Postal Service has recently told all Postal 
Police officers they do not have this authority, but instead 
their police powers are limited to Postal Service real 
property.
    According to the Postal Police's authorizing statute, they 
have--and I'm quoting here--duty in connection with the 
protection of property owned or occupied by the Postal Service 
under the charge and control of the Postal Service and persons 
on that property.
    Mr. Albergo, am I correct that that authority does not 
appear to limit the Postal Service's authority to Postal 
Service real property, but could include protecting mail trucks 
and postal staff as they travel, and, of course, the mail 
itself?
    Mr. Albergo. Yes. The Inspection Service has historically 
interpreted statute as meaning that PPOs could protect mail, 
postal workers, postal assets no matter location.
    In the summer of 2020, they decided to restrict that 
jurisdiction. It's inexplicable.
    What sort of law enforcement agency doesn't want their 
police officers protecting employees? What sort of law 
enforcement agency doesn't want their law enforcement officers 
to have the power to do their jobs?
    It's--it's--it's--I'm as confused as anyone else. It 
doesn't make any sense.
    Ms. Norton. Well, we must correct that right away.
    Mr. Albergo, could you explain why it is important for the 
Postal Police to have the authority to protect the mail and 
postal property and employees even off of Postal Service real 
property?
    Mr. Albergo. PPOs, or Postal Police officers, are uniform 
police officers. There's no dispute that police officers deter 
crime. Everyone accepts that fact except, apparently, the 
Postal Service.
    If we are deployed to specific areas where there is mail 
theft, where there are attacks on postal workers, it will deter 
crime. It's just a fact. People will not--or I should say 
criminals--criminals will not see a postal police officer in a 
conspicuously marked vehicle and say, oh, I think today's a 
good time to rob a letter carrier. It just doesn't happen.
    It's--it's inexplicable. I know I'm saying that a lot, but 
I just can't explain why the Inspection Service did this.
    Ms. Norton. Actually, I'm very concerned because I thought 
I heard witnesses say there weren't any Postal Police here in 
the District of Columbia. If so, I've got to attend to that 
right away.
    I thank you again, Mr. Albergo, and I thank you, Chairman 
Connolly. This is an important issue as we confront the 
widespread mail theft throughout the country. Thank you again.
    Mr. Connolly. I thank the distinguished Congresswoman from 
the District of Columbia, and I would ask unanimous consent, 
following up on her line of questioning, to insert in the 
record several articles dealing with this issue: One headed, 
did the U.S. Postal Service pave the way for a surge in thefts 
by muzzling its own police; another, the stolen mail scheme now 
targeting a wealthy D.C. suburb; and a third, how cyber 
criminals turn paper checks stolen from mailboxes into Bitcoin.
    And I would ask, without objection, that they be entered 
into the record at this point.
    Without objection, so ordered.
    The gentleman from Philadelphia, Mr. Fitzpatrick, is 
recognized for his line of questioning.
    Mr. Fitzpatrick. Thank you, Chairman Connolly, to all of 
our witnesses, thank you for being here today. My first 
question for Mr. Vaccarella, thank you, sir, for joining us, 
and I want to start by thanking you for your response to our 
letter that myself and several of my colleagues here had sent 
you last month, specific to postal delivery issues in our 
communities and related hiring practices in USPS.
    Several months ago, as the chairman had indicated, Congress 
passed the Postal Reform Act. I wanted to focus specific on the 
recruitment and retention issues that I referenced in my 
opening statement, and specific to those issues but also even 
more specifically in the D.A.--I'm sorry--DE-PA2 postal 
district, which many of us represent.
    How will that piece of legislation impact, positively or 
negatively, recruitment and retention, which is really the 
genesis for a lot of the challenges that have encompassed the 
postal delivery service and its employees and also its 
customers?
    Mr. Vaccarella. Yes, thank you. Thank you, Congressman. You 
know, we recognize the need for much more energy and attention 
on our retention of our employees, and we have initiatives that 
are addressing retention of our employees.
    Our new employees, you know, we are giving them extra 
training. We are limiting their work hours within the first two 
weeks, within the first 30 days, within the first 60 to 90 
days.
    And then even after their 90-day probation period, we are 
limiting their work hours as well. We have much oversight on 
that, and we do recognize the importance of addressing the 
retention of our new employees.
    Mr. Fitzpatrick. Thank you, Mr. Vaccarella.
    Mr. Albergo, ensuring the secure delivery of letters and 
packages obviously needs to be a top Federal priority. Our 
Problem Solvers Caucus recently endorsed porch pirates 
legislation to make it a Federal crime to remove packages from 
porches through theft or other means.
    Obviously, Americans must be able to rely on the post 
office to deliver essentials and also while protecting privacy 
and safety in the process.
    What do you believe the greatest challenges are facing 
Postal Police officers right now, and what can we do, moving 
forward, to guarantee and improve both postal inspection and 
postal security?
    Mr. Albergo. The Postal Police Force has been decimated. We 
need more PPOs. I mean, that's right off the bat.
    Second, we need our jurisdiction restored.
    Third, the Inspection Service--and I can't believe I have 
to say this--the Inspection Service needs to understand that 
policing, a law enforcement officer, a uniformed police 
officer, deters crime.
    They seem to be more interested in investigating crime than 
deterring it. Investigations are costly. Prosecutions are 
costly. Incarceration is very costly. It's much more cost-
effective to deter the crime in the first place.
    I think they need to realign their priorities. I think they 
need to invest more heavily in crime prevention rather than 
investigations.
    The mission statement is very clear. It's crime prevention, 
it's protection, it's security, in addition to investigations.
    Mr. Fitzpatrick. Thank you, Mr. Albergo, and I will give a 
personal plug to the postal inspectors. As an FBI agent, it was 
a complete joy to work with them, true professionals, always 
advanced their investigations, always so cooperative. So I'm a 
big supporter of that program.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Mr. Connolly. If the gentleman would yield just for one 
second, I completely support what he just said, and I would 
point out to Mr. Albergo's response to your question, there 
were over 300,000 theft complaints by constituents, by 
consumers, in the last reporting period. Less than one-half of 
1 percent were investigated. And as Mr. Albergo said, that's 
expensive.
    I'd love to see what the statistic is, well, how many 
ultimately got prosecuted and how many convictions were there.
    But essentially, we're now approaching a point where this 
is a cost-free crime. You know, your chances of being 
investigated, being prosecuted, being pursued, being convicted, 
and ultimately serving any kind of either jail time or 
compensation is close to nil. And that is a very dangerous 
situation in which to be, and it certainly does not protect our 
constituents.
    I thank my friend for yielding.
    Mrs. Lawrence, did you wish to go next?
    Mrs. Lawrence. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Connolly. You're recognized for your five minutes.
    Mrs. Lawrence. Thank you. I would like to direct my 
question to Mr. Butts.
    Being a former postal employee and being a supervisor, 
there were times when, in the processing facilities, I had to 
ask for the support and backup of Postal Police to adhere to a 
situation, to diffuse a situation.
    Because we are the second largest employer in the United 
States, we have a massive diverse work force. So my question to 
you, when we start having this discussion about the support of 
our Postal Police, where does the postal supervisors weigh in 
on this? And I would like to hear your opinion on that.
    Mr. Butts. Thank you for that question, Congresswoman. The 
postal supervisors are 100 percent in favor of a strong Postal 
Police officer work force, not just available in the plants but 
also doing the routine things that they always were doing 
before they were directed not to do so.
    And that was make routine patrols, that was to go out to 
some of the--the offices that were in more challenging areas, 
to provide periodic visits or periodic support. Right here in 
Philadelphia in some, and right here around in this 
neighborhood, we have offices that, prior to Postal Police 
being shut down, were not allowed to open or close unless the 
Postal Police were on premise because of the crime rates in 
those areas.
    So they've lost that protection by this initiative. So NAPS 
fully supports having a strong Postal Police officer work force 
out in the field, working and protecting our personnel, our 
property, and the mail.
    Mrs. Lawrence. I just want to add, Mr. Chairman, one of the 
duties that were performed by our Postal Police was the 
securing of people who entered our building, the security of 
employees coming in and out of the building.
    In large urban areas, the vehicles that we parked on postal 
facilities were subject to auto theft, and just their 
patrolling of the area as employees--massive number of 
employees walking back and forth throughout the streets outside 
of the facility, was a deterrent.
    And I just want to be clear the expectations that are there 
for our employees who are first responders, we found out during 
the pandemic, that they are needed to work regardless of the 
situations, and that we have that sense of when our loved ones 
and our citizens go to work that they're in a protected and 
safe environment.
    And the issue that I'm concerned about, when I, as a 
supervisor, could not call the Postal Police to diffuse a 
situation or to be there for multiple reasons.
    We know mental health is real, and we are very diverse 
employer in the Postal Service. And we have to deal with day-
to-day issues. Is that now the responsibility of the 
supervisor? How do we--and then when we, the Postal Inspection 
Service, as is stated, they investigate.
    So I am very concerned that we are leaving our postal 
supervisors in an area where they are exposed to deescalating 
or dealing with situations that happen in work environments. 
And I'm also concerned about my workers who are going and 
walking in communities in high urban areas where there are data 
that shows that crime is very high. This is a very, very 
important issue, and I thank you and I yield back.
    Mr. Connolly. I thank the gentle lady.
    Mr. Boyle is recognized for his five minutes of 
questioning.
    Mr. Boyle. Yes, well, thank you. I want to thank all of the 
witnesses. I especially want to welcome Ivan back home, my 
fellow die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan. He and I both carry 
the banner in Washington, DC, for our home team.
    On a different note, I have to say, I'm thinking back to 
the number of press conferences and meetings that my two 
colleagues also representing Philadelphia, Dwight Evans, Mary 
Gay Scanlon, and I had in the fall of 2020--and I was reminded 
by this actually when you were giving testimony, Ms. Perez--
that just coincidentally, the fall of 2020 is when we started 
to see the enormous disruptions, and the statistics bear that 
out, in terms of mail delivery in the Philadelphia area.
    I can't recall what else was happening fall of 2020, but 
could you please speak more to that and just how our statistics 
were so out of whack with the national average?
    Ms. Perez. Sure. As I mentioned in my opening statement, we 
found that in the Philadelphia area, the mail delivery had--was 
below the national average. So as I also mentioned in my 
opening statement, the averages have improved here in the 
Philadelphia area, but we are continuing to conduct work and 
oversight in this area to ensure that they stay that way.
    And we will be actually conducting work in the Philadelphia 
and Delaware regions in the beginning of Fiscal Year 2023, 
conducting those cluster audits that I mentioned, which will 
look at areas around the delivery, the processing, and the 
transportation of the mail to see if there's a nexus with 
regards to any issues up or downstream.
    Mr. Boyle. Thank you, Ms. Perez.
    I do want to point out, as you're aware but many others 
might not be, when we compare these statistics, we do have to 
be careful because one of the reasons--one of the ways in which 
Postmaster General DeJoy has been able to play with these stats 
is that before, First Class mail delivery used to mean 2 to 3 
days, and now, correct me if I'm wrong, Chairman Connolly, but 
it now means 4 to 5 days.
    So when we're comparing had statistics to yesteryear, we're 
not comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges.
    Would you, from your vantage point, be able to discuss why 
it is that in this year, 2022, my office has received far more 
complaints than even the pandemic years?
    And I believe when my colleague from Montgomery County, Ms. 
Dean, gave her testimony, she cited the exact same thing, and 
she happens to represent the suburbs. So that points to the 
fact that there is something going on here that, again, is 
independent of the pandemic.
    Ms. Perez. So we are aware that there is an uptick in 
customer complaints. I don't believe Philadelphia is unique in 
that, and unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to discuss 
specifically as far as what the causes--the root causes are to 
that increase, but again as I mentioned, we'll be doing work in 
the Philadelphia and Delaware regions coming up in 2023, and 
those are some of the things that we can look into.
    Mr. Boyle. Well, thank you, I appreciate that and look 
forward to staying in touch with you and your office for an 
update because as I mentioned, I mean, this is--we're three 
years, we're in the third year into dealing with some of these 
issues that have been chronic, obviously, in our region.
    Mr. Butts, I wanted to turn it over to you, and if you 
could talk from the perspective of someone who represents the 
postal supervisors, and you talked about this a little bit in 
your opening statement, but I wanted to give you the 
opportunity to elaborate on the sort of changes the postal 
supervisors have seen because they're right there, day in and 
day out, and can speak to it in a way that perhaps the 
statistics don't do justice.
    Mr. Butts. Thank you for that, Congressman. As you stated 
with the service scores and that the changing of the service 
scores has still brought upon still parity, not really 
achieving service that you would have expected that it would.
    So we have to keep in mind that over 600 pieces of mail 
processing equipment were taken out of the system a few years 
ago, so that was fire power that's going to impact the Postal 
Service forever in trying to maintain service standards because 
now we just don't have that capability anymore, to process the 
mail timely. So that's going to be a challenge.
    We do have a challenge with employee--I heard some mention 
about employee, I heard some mention about employee retention. 
We have a serious issue with employee retention that I think is 
not being addressed as aggressively as it should.
    Again, to take a new employee and then put them on a 
guaranteed route with guaranteed hours does not serve 
operations and getting America's mail delivered.
    What we need is a change in our onboarding process, and 
that's what we've been calling for since this process has been 
initiated. Our onboarding process is too long. It ends in a 
couple month period of employee just walking into a workstation 
without having any real knowledge of the work that's in front 
of them. And it can be a culture shock if you spend two months 
getting ready for a job and that--and when you get there, 
that's not the job that you need to be doing.
    So we need to have an onboarding process that puts these 
candidates in front of their--in front of their leaders, in 
front of their managers, as soon as possible, so they can bond 
with them, learn what their jobs are with them, and then deploy 
out into the field. And that will be a positive impact to the 
retention that the post office is looking for, we feel.
    Again, there are--there are a lot of issues that go into 
where we are, but retention being the one that's really a 
stickler for us because, again, it's denying us the resources 
that we need to get the work--get America's mail delivered.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Butts, and thank you Mr. 
Boyle.
    Mr. Evans, you are recognized for your five minutes of 
questioning.
    Mr. Evans. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I kind of want to 
followup on my colleague to Ms. Perez. My office has received 
countless complaints of checks being stole at USPS drop boxes, 
and these are fraudulent cash, wash out, or otherwise lost or 
stolen.
    These thefts are hitting my low-income constituents the 
hardest, and I have yet to hear a good plan of what is being 
done to address this. Why is USPS doing the increased report of 
checking thefts and fraud in Philadelphia, and I really close 
with this one, will the Postal Service provide data on how many 
people have been caught and charged for stealing checks in 
Philadelphia?
    Ms. Perez. So as I mentioned in my opening statement, we do 
have an Office of Investigations who focuses on mail theft. And 
we have over 500 agents, and 40 percent of our agents actually 
focus on the area of mail theft.
    So I don't have statistics for you at this point. I don't 
know if my colleague from the Postal Service, Mr. Vaccarella, 
would have those statistics, but we'd be happy to look at our 
statistics and get back to you.
    Mr. Evans. But the question--some of that, will the Postal 
Service provide data on how many people have been caught and 
charged for stealing checks in Philadelphia?
    Ms. Perez. Right. I would have to--again, I would have to 
go back with my colleagues from the Office of Investigations 
and see what kind of statistics we have to get back to you on 
that.
    Mr. Evans. OK. But you will provide that to----
    Mr. Connolly. Well, would my friend----
    Mr. Evans. Yes.
    Mr. Connolly [continuing]. If we could pause his 
questioning just one second, Ms. Perez, are you telling us you 
don't know how many--how many violations or suspicions of theft 
have been prosecuted or pursued with 500----
    Ms. Perez. In the Philadelphia area?
    Mr. Connolly. Is that your question, Philadelphia?
    Mr. Evans. That was specific to mine, Philadelphia.
    Mr. Connolly. All right. Because one is looking at the 
overall statistics, and one is not impressed that we're very 
aggressive at pursuing anything.
    Ms. Perez. Right. And one other thing to note is that the 
Office of Investigations within the Office of Inspector 
General, we investigate crimes that are committed by postal 
employees. So if there's a crime that's committed that is a 
non-postal employee, that would be with the Postal Inspection 
Service, so we do work closely with the Postal Inspection 
Service.
    And, again, statistically overall, we would have to 
coordinate to ensure that we have those--that right information 
to provide.
    Mr. Connolly. OK. All right. I just want to make sure it 
was clarified.
    Thank you, my friend, for yielding.
    Mr. Evans. OK. Thank you. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Connolly. I thank the gentleman. And let me just say, 
Mr. Evans, we will work with you and obviously other members of 
this delegation, and the whole issue of crime and theft, no 
postal worker should be subject to violent crime in the pursuit 
of his or her responsibilities, and no consumer should fear 
that by using the Postal Service I'm putting myself and that 
check or that payment at risk because professionals are 
outwitting us in the process of criminal activity.
    So thank you for bringing that issue up, and we'll pursue 
it.
    Ms. Scanlon, you are recognized for your five minutes of 
questioning.
    Ms. Scanlon. Thank you very much.
    Mr. Butts, you spoke to an issue of consolidations of 
sorting and delivery centers, and this is something that just 
in the past few days my office has gotten a number of questions 
about from agencies--or from post offices in our area.
    As I understand it, this means that sorting and delivery 
functions are going to be removed from many of our local post 
offices and consolidated in certain places.
    So letter carriers will no longer go to their local 
facility to pick up mail. They'll have to drive someplace else 
and pick up the mail. Can you explain a little bit about this? 
Because it seems to me that that's going to create additional 
time for those letter carriers. It's going to mean we need more 
letter carriers, that we are going to need more vehicles 
because many of these folks now pick up from the local place 
and then walk. So that seems to have environmental impact as 
well as some issues with an aging postal fleet. So can you just 
fill us in a little bit about this?
    Mr. Butts. Yes, certainly, Congresswoman. Although we just 
been in the beginning stages of being briefed by the Postal 
Service on this S and DC initiative they are undertaking, we do 
have some kind of--at least a glimpse of how it rolls out with 
the Tri-County facility.
    Tri-County facility near King of Prussia already is doing 
this type of work where they have brought in five associate 
offices into that facility. So now the carriers, they no longer 
report to whatever station they were. Whether it was Devon or 
Berwyn, they now report to Tri-County to begin their day, and 
they pick up their mail, and then they leave from Tri-County, 
go travel back to their town, deliver their route, bring their 
mail, and then bring back--and then come back to Tri-County.
    So what we see in that facility is increased, obviously, 
windshield time because you increase the carriers out on the 
road and in the vehicles, and you made mention of our vehicle 
fleet, and so that has some challenges to it also.
    And I think now with this S and DC, where it's expanded out 
to a half hour, you're creating more of that time out on the 
streets driving now.
    And for those of us from Pennsylvania and this area, we can 
understand the challenges of trying to drive on Lancaster 
Avenue or Montgomery Avenue or the Schuylkill Expressway at 
rush hour. So it may be a half hour away, but in the traffic at 
rush hour, that half hour could easily turn into an hour.
    So then you have those things that we don't know if the 
agency has taken into consideration. But we also know that a 
half hour away is going to require that some of these routes 
now have to be split. So now you'll have--instead of one route, 
it may be two routes. So now that's an additional person, 
additional vehicle, additional support equipment.
    You have some places, I believe in the mid-Hudson area, 
where they're doing--they're S and DC. They currently have nine 
routes that are currently walking routes. That means they don't 
have vehicles. So now you have to have a vehicle to even start 
out moving these carriers out.
    So there's a lot of pieces in here that we really don't 
have a understanding of what the cost is going to be. I know 
we've seen something from Protect the Postal Service that 
projected it could be from $2 to $3 billion in additional costs 
to roll out these facilities, but we don't know because we 
haven't heard from the agency on that.
    Ms. Scanlon. That really feeds into my concern that some of 
these efficiencies really aren't efficiencies in terms of 
service or even actual savings for the post office.
    Ms. Perez, your agency has studied a number of service 
issues. Has there been an effort to audit unscheduled office 
closures, the kind of thing that I think several of us have 
mentioned, that people go to the post office and they see a 
sign, a handwritten sign up taped up, sorry, no one's here, 
we'll be back in an hour?
    Ms. Perez. So unscheduled office closures, I don't believe, 
off the top of my head, we have, but as Mr. Butts mentioned, we 
are finalizing our audit plan for 2023, and we'll be looking at 
this issue around the sorting and delivery centers, and I can, 
you know, take back the issue on the unscheduled office 
closures and get back to you.
    Ms. Scanlon. OK. I mean, I am very curious to find out 
whether this consolidation in the King of Prussia area, how 
that has played out as we're seeing it supposed to start in the 
next, you know, few weeks.
    And also concerned that your audits may not take place 
until 2023, when of course we have a midterm election coming up 
right as, once again, we have a slew of new changes coming in, 
would seem to at least have the potential for slowing down our 
mail-in ballots. So very concerned about that impact, so thank 
you. I yield back.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Ms. Scanlon. Thank you for raising 
that issue, and let me just say, it seems to me, unscheduled 
closures ought to be so rare as to be exceptional.
    And let me ask, Ms. Perez--if I may, Ms. Scanlon, followup 
to your question--is there a policy in the Postal Service with 
respect to unscheduled closure?
    Ms. Perez. I don't know that off the top of my head. I 
don't know if a colleague from the Postal Service could answer 
as to whether or not there's a policy, but, you know, again, if 
we were to receive information with regards to unscheduled 
office closures, and we felt it was a priority to look at, 
that's something that we would prioritize and review.
    Mr. Connolly. Well, you might at least concede there ought 
to be a policy if there isn't one?
    Ms. Perez. Yes.
    Mr. Connolly. And that it ought to be a rare event, not a 
kind of frequent occurrence?
    Ms. Perez. Again, I would--I would defer to the Postal 
Service on whether or not there would be particular causes or 
reasons for making unscheduled office closures, but, yes, as 
far as informing the public and ensuring that they know that 
alternative actions with regards to----
    Mr. Connolly. Well, I certainly agree with you, there could 
be reasons----
    Ms. Perez. Sure.
    Mr. Connolly [continuing]. But our focus is on the impact 
on consumers. We're trying to regularize service and make sure 
it's predictable and certain and reliable, and not subject to 
the vagaries of other people's schedules, including postal 
workers.
    Ms. Perez. Sure.
    Mr. Connolly. And so that gets to Mr. Butts' and Mr. 
Albergo's point about, frankly, levels of employment and 
whether we're at full complement, and whether we're really 
accurately assessing what resources have to go behind what 
tasks. All right. We look forward to your pursuing that. Thank 
you.
    And thank you, Ms. Scanlon, for bringing that up.
    Ms. Dean, you are recognized for your five minutes of 
questions.
    Ms. Dean. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our 
witnesses. As I said, I represent Montgomery and Berks 
Counties, so my questions are going to focus on my constituent 
concerns.
    Last year, USPS provided a briefing to staff, outlining the 
plans to address staffing shortages to alleviate the broader 
disruptions. As I said, three times the number of constituent 
complaints and we're not three quarters into the year.
    We have problems in what is the geographic middle of 
Montgomery County, King of Prussia, delays in delivery, 
Bridgeport, complaints of delays in delivery, Conshohocken, 
complaints of the condition of the Postal Service property.
    Let me start maybe with Mr. Vaccarella. We know that work 
force shortages is a big problem. What are we doing to attract 
more folks to the work force and to address some of the 
concerns that Mr. Butts talks about in the onboarding of new 
postal employees?
    Mr. Vaccarella. Yes, thank you, Congresswoman. We are very 
aggressively addressing our hiring practices within the 
district, not only within this district, nationwide.
    I can tell you within this district, we have district-led 
job fairs, at least 20 per month, and then additional 
postmaster--such as the postmaster of Philadelphia holds 
additional job fairs. So we are, you know, we are well above 20 
job fairs each month----
    Ms. Dean. Are the job fairs producing candidates? Are you 
getting record numbers of candidates coming forward?
    Mr. Vaccarella. I don't know that I'd say record numbers, 
but we have hired more than 2,000 carriers, both city carriers 
and rural carriers over the past 12 months in this district.
    Ms. Dean. And yet we still struggle with work force 
shortages, am I correct?
    Mr. Vaccarella. We do, for various reasons, yes.
    Ms. Dean. And, Mr. Butts, in terms of what you were talking 
about, I apologize, I don't know the acronym, S and DC 
initiative. Can you tell me what that is?
    Mr. Butts. That's the sorting--sorting and delivery center. 
Consolidation.
    Ms. Dean. Consolidation. I hate acronyms. Forgive me.
    Mr. Butts. Yes. We have plenty of them.
    Ms. Dean. Whose initiative is that?
    Mr. Butts. That initiative is under this administration as 
led by PMG DeJoy.
    Ms. Dean. And the goal of that initiative, as it was 
explained, is what?
    Mr. Butts. Is to consolidate the mail-processing operations 
of a number of facilities into one central location. And I 
believe it's supposed to help address with logistics, and it's 
aligning--realigning the operations.
    Ms. Dean. And yet I have a feeling that, at least 
anecdotally, what we are all experiencing, what our 
constituents are experiencing, it's probably contributing to 
the delays, the disruptions, the problems of mail delivery.
    Mr. Albergo, I'm very interested in whatever initiative has 
been taken to defund Postal Police Service. Where did that come 
from?
    Mr. Albergo. I don't actually know. I don't know who in the 
Postal Service made that decision. Whether it's PMG DeJoy, 
whether it was the chief postal inspector, Barksdale, I don't 
know who made this decision.
    What I do know is that Mr. DeJoy hasn't done anything to 
rectify the problem. He hasn't--he hasn't spoken to the 
Inspection Service telling them, hey, you have police officers, 
let's use them, we have a mail theft epidemic. So that hasn't 
happened, as far as I know. So, unfortunately, I can't answer 
your question.
    Ms. Dean. What a shame. As I said, all these things just 
going in opposite directions. We're hiring and we're 
consolidating, we're delaying folks getting out on their routes 
because they're now having to travel 30 minutes into King of 
Prussia and then upon travel back, or whatever amount of time.
    It just seems like a very bad set of strategies, and of 
course to leave the Postal Police Force so understaffed 
connects to what Mr. Connolly was talking about in terms of 
prevention and prosecution of theft.
    Mr. Butts, what does the process of prioritizing a route 
for service look like? Because I know we have households that 
are going multiple days without delivery, despite some of the 
statistics we're hearing. How do you prioritize a route, what's 
it look like, and how do we get to daily delivery for 
everybody?
    Mr. Butts. Thank you for that question, Congresswoman. I'm 
not sure I can give you the full answer. I believe someone from 
Postal Operations would be better suited for that, but I think 
the prioritization obviously is based on staffing and employee 
availability, what they have on hand.
    I think we do have--one thing I know is that the Postal 
Service does have the matrix in place where they can ensure 
that no one route is missed consecutive days.
    I think there needs to be a better operational look at 
that, that kind of reporting, to ensure that if a route is 
missed one day, that it's not missed the second day. And I 
think that would help.
    But I think until we address the employee retention--
because employee availability actually is starting to level out 
and come back in the Postal Service. So it's the employee 
retention that still is a lingering problem.
    So until we address that for more of a boots-on-ground 
perspective of, you know, what does the field need in order to 
engage these employees and then keep these employees working 
and engaged, until we start moving into that kind of thinking, 
I think we're going to continue to be challenged with employee 
retention.
    Ms. Dean. I know my time has expired. I thank you, Mr. 
Chairman, for the indulgence, and thank you, Mr. Butts.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Ms. Dean, and thank you, Mr. 
Butts.
    Ms. Houlahan, you're recognized for your five minutes of 
questioning.
    Ms. Houlahan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is this working?
    I feel as though we've sort of beaten this question about 
the availability of police and the fact that it's gone from, my 
understanding in your testimony, to 2,700 police to 350 over a 
course of--a period of relatively short amount of time, which 
is an astounding figure.
    And let's, for a minute, set that aside because I think 
part of what this Committee has learned and heard is that we 
need to ask questions about how that decision was made, who has 
the authority to change that decision, and can that decision be 
changed. Because I think what we're seeing is if there's crime 
with no punishment, there's more crime, and so I think that's 
something to take away.
    But I'd like to, as Ms. Dean said, Representative Dean 
said, focus on my constituent, Mr. Joe Dobbins, who you saw in 
the testimony today. He was, as you might recall by his story, 
assaulted as a letter carrier, on the job.
    And despite his injuries and his status as a Federal 
employee, his case is only being investigated at the local 
level. And so I am trying to understand--I understand that the 
likelihood that there are going to be police available to stop 
that from happening to Mr. Dobbs is, it's unlikely.
    But given that it did happen, perhaps Mr. Vaccarella or 
whomever has the ability to answer this question, why is it 
that cannot be prosecuted as a Federal crime?
    Mr. Vaccarella. Well, I will--first, I'd like to defer to 
my colleague, but first I'd like to clarify an inaccuracy by 
Mr. Butts. There have been no changes with the S and DC or Tri-
County. No carriers are traveling to Tri-County or delivering 
out of Tri-County. Those changes have not happened. There's 
been no changes in the state of Pennsylvania.
    In answer to your question----
    Ms. Houlahan. Well, perhaps with what amounts of my time, 
sir, we can clarify that because I was intrigued by that too, 
because Devon and Berwyn are in my district. So I'd like to 
learn more about that, but I really would like to get to the 
answer of why, if a mail carrier is carrying the mail and is 
assaulted, it's not a federally prosecuted crime and what we 
can to make sure that that is no longer the case while we're 
waiting for more police.
    And if you're the not the right person to answer, perhaps I 
can open it to other people.
    Mr. Vaccarella. Yes. I will defer to my Postal Inspection 
Service colleague, Peter Rendina.
    Mr. Rendina. Good afternoon and thank you very much for the 
question. For this particular investigation, it was 
investigated federally by U.S. postal inspectors. We worked the 
investigation with local police in this matter.
    We did present this matter for prosecution to Federal 
court. It was--it was declined for Federal prosecution, but it 
is now being presented within the local court system for 
prosecution at this time.
    Regarding why it was declined, that would be better 
answered by Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney's office.
    Ms. Houlahan. Well, I will definitely be pursuing that, 
because it just seems that when you're trying to deter crime, 
there's nothing more deterrent than it being a literal Federal 
crime. And we all grow up knowing that we can't go into 
somebody else's mailbox because it's a Federal crime. I don't 
understand why, if a postal worker is touched just like a TSA 
worker is touched, that it's not a Federal crime.
    With what remains in my question time, I want to talk a 
little bit more about the Oxford, Pennsylvania, post office 
which we talked about sudden closures and I would like to 
pursue the idea that we need to have a metric of office, 
unexpected office closures, but the last part of my time, Gay 
Street, which is in West Chester, has a very similar issue it 
sounds as my colleague Mary Gay has with ADA compliance.
    Constituents who have disabilities in West Chester are 
being told they need to wait outside for service and that only 
is if there are enough staff people who are able to leave the 
office and come outside to attend and help them. There are 
proposals around for expanding postal banking and other similar 
demanding services like that, but if there are places like my 
post office in West Chester where people cannot access the 
space, how will we accomplish expanding services like postal 
banking? Who would be able to help me understand accessibility 
and access?
    Mr. Vaccarella. Yes, thank you, Congresswoman. As with the 
Chester building, the Gay Street building in West Chester is a 
historic building and those buildings are exempt from the 
Architectural Barriers agreement. So we do go out of our way, 
and we will assist customers who call us and ask for 
assistance, and we will service those customers at their car.
    Ms. Houlahan. So my understanding is this particular place 
is, of course, a historic area because Philadelphia is a 
historic area, and that there is a ramp in the back that is 
only for employees. Is there no way that we can have access to 
this particular facility?
    Mr. Vaccarella. Not from the rear dock or employee 
entrance, no.
    Ms. Houlahan. Well, I would love to have a follow-on 
conversation with you on that, because I'm certain I'm not 
alone with Pennsylvania being as historic as it is or other 
places like it, we need to have access opportunities for people 
who happen to live in historic locations. Thank you.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Ms. Houlahan.
    Just real briefly, Mr. Rendina, what are arrow keys and why 
are they important to the discussion about mail theft? Mr. 
Rendina?
    Mr. Rendina. Yes, sir. Thank you very much for the 
question. Arrow keys are access devices to be able to get into 
various repositories for United States mail.
    Mr. Connolly. And do ill-doers now have access to arrow 
keys?
    Mr. Rendina. Yes. There have been thefts of arrow keys.
    Mr. Connolly. And that has led to the proliferation of mail 
theft, in general. Is that correct, including the sort of re-
signatures of checks consumers have written so that those 
checks get inflated and get cashed into the wrong accounts? Is 
that correct?
    Mr. Rendina. Yes. It's one element that has led to what 
we're seeing as an increase in mail theft, and we do have a 
multi-layer strategy to address mail theft, and we're not going 
to be able to arrest our way out of this issue. I've heard a 
lot about prevention, and prevention's incredibly important to 
our strategy.
    We're communicating with our postal employees, customers, 
our Federal, state, and local partners. I want to say thank you 
to Congressman Fitzpatrick regarding his service as an FBI 
agent. We worked well with all of our law enforcement partners 
on prevention and then protection.
    We're increasing the security of those blue boxes that you 
see across the country. We have various strategies to make it 
much more difficult to get into those boxes, to include 
addressing the key and lock situation. We're looking to use 
technology to make it less valuable to have one of these arrow 
keys. And we do also understand that the perpetrators of mail 
theft are becoming more sophisticated.
    They're using dark web online chat rooms to organize, and 
postal inspectors are working to investigate that. So we've 
talked a lot about investigation. We've talked about enforcing 
the laws, but, again, preventions very important. That's why we 
work with our local police departments who are charged with 
protecting communities where our letter carriers are and where 
those blue boxes are so that your constituents, our customers 
can use the United States mail.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you. And I'm glad to hear about the 
progress, but I will point out that one of the articles from 
The Washington Post that I entered into the record earlier, 
which was written on April or published on April 30th of this 
year, focused on these blue boxes and arrow keys, all of which 
could trace to the fact that consumers trusted that box and 
they were euchred by ill-doers who then took advantage of the 
system and were able to engage successfully in theft.
    You talked about prevention, and I think all of us would 
agree, an effective prevention strategy, if it's 100 percent, 
means we don't have to worry about crime because we're 
preventing it. But the fact of the matter is, you had 300,000 
mail theft complaints between March 2020 and February 2021, 
less than a year period, 300,000.
    It's only gone up since, and yet only 1,090 mail theft 
cases were pursued, and you said we can't prosecute our way out 
of this. Well, of the 1,090, which is less than one half of 1 
percent of the total that were pursued, well, how many 
convictions did we have?
    Mr. Rendina. For last year, sir, if I can re-ask the time 
period?
    Mr. Connolly. Yes. OK.
    Mr. Rendina. So we're looking at just over 1,200 
convictions. And those convictions don't always line up year to 
year because it takes time for the court process.
    Mr. Connolly. Yes. Just to make sure I get it right on the 
record, 1,200. Is that right?
    Mr. Rendina. Just over 1,200, sir.
    Mr. Connolly. OK. Well, you know, that's great, but what we 
all worry about here is that's still less than one half of 1 
percent. And, obviously, you're right that prosecution and 
conviction aren't the only way out of this, but some 
prosecution and conviction is a deterrent. People have to know 
there is a cost if their caught that we're going to be 
aggressive about this.
    Can you reassure us that that is, in fact, the policy we 
are pursuing or part of the policy we're pursuing?
    Mr. Rendina. Yes. We're going to--we are aggressively 
pursuing mail thieves. Not only that, but, again, the talking 
to our customers about how they can protect themselves and 
protect the mail. Like this morning, I mailed a check to 
Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, from my residence here in 
Washington, DC, mailed that at a blue collection box here in 
D.C.
    One of the things I did was, I looked at when that last 
pick up time was at that blue box to ensure that the letter was 
not going to sit in the blue box overnight. Now, the particular 
blue box I went to, I know has high security devices inside to 
keep the mail safe.
    We continue to work on securing those blue boxes and 
hardening the target, making it harder for criminals to take 
our customers, our American citizens' mail. They trust the 
Postal Service.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you. I will point out, though, 
parenthetically some of the changes Mr. DeJoy made when he took 
over as postmaster general was actually to make less frequent 
the pickup on a lot of mailboxes. I can remember going through 
Quincy, Massachusetts with my brother who happens to live there 
and every single mailbox we went to, the time of pickup of mail 
had been changed.
    And in many cases, it went from two times a day to one time 
a day, and in some cases, there was no pick up on Friday and, 
you know, that confuses consumers and I think underlines the 
problem we face in terms of making it easier to steal, to take 
advantage of that system.
    Mr. Albergo, my final question, I just want to make sure I 
get it for the record. And Ms. Houlahan said we don't want to 
beat a dead horse and nor do I, but let me beat a dead horse. 
We have seen theft go up targeting consumers and we have seen 
violence against postal workers, including letter carriers also 
go up on their routes and so forth.
    Is that correct?
    Mr. Albergo. Absolutely.
    Mr. Connolly. Significantly?
    Mr. Albergo. Significantly. It has exploded.
    Mr. Connolly. And certainly in response--now here I am 
beating a dead horse, but I want to make sure we get it right. 
And certainly in response, the postmaster general and the USPS 
has beefed up the police service and broadened its jurisdiction 
to protect people on carrier routes and to make sure that we 
are deterring and preventing, as Mr. Rendina said, theft.
    Mr. Albergo. No. They did the exact opposite. They started 
defunding us. They revoked our jurisdictional authority. They 
confined us to postal property. They--they did the exact 
opposite what common sense would dictate. That's what they did.
    Mr. Connolly. Hum. Well, that's something we're certainly 
going to pursue. And Ms. Perez, I think you'll be hearing from 
us as well in terms of your office in pursuit of that. But that 
not only makes no sense, but it, frankly, puts postal workers 
and the public at risk.
    And that's unacceptable to this subcommittee, to Members of 
Congress, on both sides of the aisle. And if there's one 
takeaway from this hearing for me that's it.
    I want to thank everybody. Is there anything else for the 
good of the order?
    Again, thank you to the members of the delegation. As soon 
as we adjourn the hearing, we're going to move immediately to a 
press availability for members of the Pennsylvania delegation 
to share with your local media your take on this set of issues.
    I want to thank all of our witnesses. I want to thank our 
committee staff, one of whom has a birthday. Melanie. Melanie, 
thank you for being with us today. She gave up her birthday to 
be with us today, wonderful committee staff. Thank you so much. 
And thanks to everybody and my staff for making today possible.
    If there are any questions that members want to continue to 
pursue, if you could do it through the chair and we'll make 
sure we get it to our witnesses. We would ask our witnesses to 
try to get that answers back in a timely fashion.
    And with that, we are adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 1:12 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]