PRESS RELEASE

 Congressman Al Green and Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia Address Mail Delivery Delays with the Office of Inspector General

(Washington, D.C.) — On Wednesday, January 31, 2024, Congressman Al Green and Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia convened a meeting with the Inspector General for the USPS. The meeting addressed ongoing mail delivery delays at the United States Postal Service (USPS) North Houston and South Houston Distribution Processing Centers. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) disclosed that they are conducting an audit of the South Houston (Missouri City) Local Processing Center’s operational challenges and backlog of packages.

Although the Inspector General was not in a position to provide solutions to delivery delay issues, she expressed concern about allegations of customers’ inability to reach USPS personnel for information. She also acknowledged recent staffing issues across the USPS that may be impacting performance at the Houston facilities. Finally, she acknowledged the issues Representative Green raised regarding transparency and indicated that in the past a town hall meeting recommendation was a part of an audit report at an unrelated facility.

“After weeks of working with Representative Al Green to demand action, the office of the inspector general has responded and has been in Houston investigating this matter and will provide a full report of their findings with recommendations,” said Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia. “Our constituents have made their voices heard loud and clear: USPS has failed them. This is unacceptable and we will continue to work on this matter until reliable mail delivery is once again the norm. We will always be committed to ensure that our essential services are delivered in an efficient, timely and seamless operation to our constituents.”

“While efforts are being made to deal with the unreasonable mail delay problems, we’ll await the USPS’ comprehensive report on the North and South Houston facilities. This should provide some transparency as well as recommendations to facilitate improved delivery service. Congresswoman Garcia and I still intend to tour the plants before the March elections. We also believe that an on-site customer service agent should be stationed at the Missouri City plant to provide customer assistance with mail delay issues,” stated Congressman Al Green.