On August 21, 2020 the Center for Disability Rights (CDR) joined 50 national advocacy organizations on a letter organized by Democracy Imitative and sent to the House of Representatives supporting The Delivering for America Act of 2020 which was introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). The recent Administrative changes to the United States Postal Services (USPS) done by the newly appointed Postmaster General DeJoy have caused serious concern around the delivery of mail.  People with disabilities depend on mail delivery for many parts of their lives. They depend on a functioning, efficient mail system to bring them funds for living, medication, communications between their family and friends, as well as the federal government as they complete their Census 2020 forms. This year of surviving in a pandemic receiving mail for disabled people will be imperative for the receipt of their voting information.

From the Letter:

On behalf of the more than 50 below organizations, many of which are part of the Democracy Initiative and/or the Declaration for American Democracy coalitions representing tens of millions of Americans, we urge you to vote “yes” for the bipartisan Delivering for America Act (H.R. 8015) when it is expected to be considered by the full House of Representatives tomorrow.

As millions of Americans continue to suffer from the coronavirus pandemic, whether they’ve been inflicted with the illness, had loved ones who’ve died, lost their jobs, or had their wages decreased, the United States Postal Service continues to play a vital role in our society, and every American benefits from a reliable and trustworthy USPS. For more than 200 years, it has helped drive our economy and kept communities connected. The USPS is also extremely popular. According to Pew Research, it is the government agency with the highest approval rating: it is viewed favorably by 91% of Democrats and 91% of Republicans.

On August 22, 2020 the House of Representatives passed H.R. 8015 and now it is time for the Senate to follow through with protecting the USPS. CDR will continue to work with Democracy Initiative and other civil rights coalitions like the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to  protect the delivery process of our mailing system for all. The concern for the efficient and swift delivery of mail has not been resolved. This work will be at the forefront of our work to ensure a good Census 2020 count as well as an equitable voting process for this year’s important elections.

We also want to thank Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) for her leadership in this important work, as an organization with headquarters in NY state we are proud to see a member from our state leading this effort.

Follow the work of Democracy Initiative: http://www.democracyinitiative.org/

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights also sent a letter to the House on H.R. 8015 see here: https://civilrights.org/resource/vote-yes-on-h-r-8015-the-delivering-for-america-act/

Follow the work of Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: https://civilrights.org/

For more information about this work please contact Dara Baldwin at dara.baldwin@ncdr.us