Once again, veterans have been left out of the conversation and stand to pay the consequences. President Trump’s rash decision to defund the United States Postal System to fit a political agenda is disgraceful. Veterans count on the USPS for a multitude of reasons and to sabotage it is an infringement of their rights in many ways.
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Voter Suppression - Voting is one of the most patriotic acts we can do, and veterans have a long history of doing so through vote-by-mail. An attack on vote-by-mail is an attack on the ability of our veterans to make their voices heard. Particularly, now, veterans are more likely to suffer from preexisting conditions, and thus face a higher threat from in-person voting during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, over 800,000 absentee ballots were dispatched to overseas military personnel during the 2012 and 2016 elections combined, according to the Center for American Progress. Our voting, active service members will be caught up in the wash and their votes sacrificed for a game of political football.
Constitutional Right - Many of our Veterans count on the USPS for life-saving VA services. The Founders empowered Congress “To establish Post Offices and Post Roads” in Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 of the Constitution. The government has provided postal services from its beginnings. A federal Postal Service has existed in some form since the Postal Service Act signed by George Washington in 1792. To take away that right now would be devastating to veterans. The VA relies on mail-in prescriptions to supply veterans with the medication they need, and threatening the USPS will directly threaten veterans’ access to healthcare. In 2016, the VA processed almost 120 million outpatient prescriptions, “the VA Mail Order Pharmacy processes 470,000 prescriptions daily and every workday over 330,000 Veterans receive a package of prescriptions in the mail”.
This is not to mention that no consideration was given to the 100,000 Veterans that make up the largest contingent of the USPS workforce. Good jobs that provide for working Veterans and their families will disappear.
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Veterans have fought to preserve democracy and freedom -- the postal service and our voting rights are key parts of this. Veterans will not stand to see what they fought to protect be dismantled. An attack on the USPS is an attack on a key government service that has been a part of our country for hundreds of years.
