MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., was not allowed inside a U.S. Postal Service processing facility early Friday morning in northwest Miami-Dade as mail delivery concerns are growing across the country ahead of Election Day.
“The plant manager has been directed not to come out and direct me as to what this mysterious protocol is that is suddenly preventing me from coming in,” Wasserman Schultz told reporters. “I gave them notification yesterday that I wanted to come and do a walk-through of the facility. This is just outrageous.”
Pictures taken Thursday by the National Postal Mail Handlers Union show what they say is stacks of mail — some dated July — that still have not been sent out.
It was an alarming site to the congresswoman, as she says some of it is business mail while others include medical supplies.
Wasserman Schultz said she visited the facility back in February and just gave a days’ notice and was able to walk in.
That wasn’t the case Friday morning and she was told indirectly by the plant manager that she did not follow proper protocol and would not be allowed in.
“The Postal Service welcomes visits from members of Congress at our facilities, and we routinely arrange for tours,” Debra J. Fetterly, USPS Spokesperson for the South Florida District said in a statement. “Representative Wasserman Schultz has requested and participated in such tours in the past. We learned late yesterday afternoon that Representative Wasserman Schultz wanted to arrange for a tour at 4:00 am this morning. We spoke with her staff to explain that we were unable to set up the tour on such short notice, but would be happy to accommodate her at another time. We look forward to working with the Congresswoman and her staff to arrange a visit in the near future.”