Congressman Al Green and Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia To Host a Press Conference to Address Response from USPS Regarding Media Tours and Customer Service Availability
(Houston, TX) — On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, Congressman Al Green and Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia hosted a press conference to discuss the response from United States Postal Service (USPS) officials, addressing their joint letter requesting enhanced community engagement and transparency in USPS operations.
On February 22, 2024, Chairman Pete Sessions led a briefing with other members of Congress, senior congressional staff, and USPS officials regarding issues with mail delivery delays at the North Houston Regional Processing Center and South Houston Distribution Center. Following the briefing, the inquiry letter from Representatives Green and Garcia was provided to the USPS officials. A copy of the joint letter is accessible online here, and the official response by USPS is available here.
In the response, USPS declined a proposal for a town hall-style meeting, stating that single outreach events may complicate existing, ongoing customer service efforts. According to USPS, those efforts include a system of collecting, analyzing, and acting on service performance issues, customer complaints, and questions.
The joint letter also requested media tours of USPS facilities, and in its response USPS offered tours to interested media outlets. They would be permitted to bring recording devices, pursuant to USPS rules and regulations.
Regarding on-site customer inquiries, USPS replied that having on-site customer service representatives to address individual inquiries at the Houston facilities would be logistically and operationally unfeasible. However, USPS provided various channels for complaint resolution that are available online here. For postal customers interested in speaking directly with a representative, the Customer Care Call Center can be contacted at 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777), or customers can initiate a case in writing to the Office of the Consumer Advocate located at 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, D.C. 20260. Customers can get real-time updates on service performance results here and can access the tracking tool for packages here.
“This latest response from the USPS makes clear that our advocacy is getting results, and they are finally taking actions to repair their broken system after months of delays,” said Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia. “Last month, I joined Rep. Al Green and Chairman Pete Sessions to perform the much needed oversight of the USPS that our constituents deserve. Rest assured, we won’t stop fighting until we can be confident that the USPS can deliver mail and packages for our communities wherever they are in a timely manner.”
Congressman Al Green stated, “Congresswoman Garcia and I appreciate the United States Postal Service’s response to our written questions that were focused on a lack of transparency into mail delivery delays. Providing customer service tools and allowing the media to tour the Houston facilities should offer more visibility into the postal service’s operations. However, the last word on transparency will not be spoken or written until the press has toured the facilities and published its findings.”