I hope Nevadans and Americans across the country had a warm, joyous holiday season. For families throughout our state, including mine, sending gifts and holiday cards to friends and loved ones is one of the most special ways we celebrate. That means we need to be able to rely on a timely, consistent, and secure postal service. 

It’s been important to me to make sure Nevadans are getting their deliveries on time, especially around the holidays. In 2019, I heard from residents that Yerington was facing a sudden stamp shortage right before Christmas. I worked with the postal service to help fix the issue and make sure residents had plenty of time – and stamps – to send their cards and gifts.

The holidays are an important time for the United States Postal Service, but Nevada’s seniors depend on it year-round for the delivery of prescription medication, Social Security checks, and other needs, including voting by mail. Unfortunately, in recent years, we’ve seen issues with USPS’s delivery times and backlogs in mail and packages. That’s why I’m working to make sure post offices across the country have the resources they need to get Americans their mail on time – no matter what time of year.

Along with Democrats and Republicans in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, I passed the Postal Service Reform Act to address important issues within the Postal Service. This legislation ensures that Nevadans receive mail six days a week, makes the USPS financially secure for the long term, and reduces the mail delays Nevadans have faced in recent years. 

This essential reform is also helping keep our economy running. I recently visited and toured the Pitney Bowes mail processing center in Las Vegas, which employs over 300 Nevadans. The Postal Service Reform Act is helping Pitney Bowes support its workers by increasing stability for the mail, print, and packaging industries.

But our work is not over. A problem that has become increasingly concerning for Nevadans and Americans across the country is the amount of mail theft and armed robberies being committed against postal workers. Postal workers can carry “arrow keys,” which allow them access to multiple mailboxes and their contents at once. Oftentimes, these attackers are looking to steal large quantities of mail that they can sell on the black market. According to the Postal Inspection Service, armed robberies of letter carriers rose sharply from 2018 to 2021. This is unacceptable.

That’s why I’ve joined with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on a bill that will help keep our postal workers – and our mail – safe. Currently, Postal Police Officers are only allowed to protect USPS property. The Postal Police Reform Act would ensure that Postal Police Officers can be assigned to duty outside of Postal Service property so they can protect the mail, customers, and Postal Service employees. This would keep letter carriers safe from robberies and help keep criminals out of our mailboxes, and I’m going to keep working to get this critical legislation passed.

I’m going to continue working to improve our postal system and ensure Nevada seniors in every corner of our state are receiving all of their mail in a timely, reliable, and safe manner, not just during the holidays, but year-round. If you are experiencing a postal issue, please don’t hesitate to contact my office.