Senator Carper Emphasizes Importance of Timely Nominations for Postal Regulatory Commission and D.C. Court of Appeals

Today at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee nominations hearing, Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) heard from Postal Regulatory Commissioners (PRC) Ann C. Fisher and Ashley E. Poling who currently serve on the PRC and have been nominated to serve a second term, and judicial nominees Carmen G. Iguina González and Joseph R. Palmore who have been nominated to serve as Associate Judges of the D.C. Court of Appeals. During the hearing, Senator Carper highlighted the importance of continuing to hear from nominees for both the PRC and the D.C. Court system in order to confirm qualified people in a timely manner. Earlier this year, the Senator introduced legislation to prevent prolonged vacancies in D.C. courts.

During the hearing, Senator Carper emphasized the importance of swiftly filling vacancies in the D.C. Court system:

“I used to be governor of Delaware and as governor, I was privileged to nominate people to serve on a variety of courts, including Court of Chancery, […] Supreme Court, and others. I know how important the role of the judiciary is in our state, and certainly here in the District. For too long, the [judicial] seats have not been filled and not been filled properly, and even in some cases left vacant for not just months, but years, which is I think shameful. And the Senate has responsibility, all of us Democrats and Republicans, […] to fill these seats with confirmed folks. […] Justice delayed is justice denied, and we can do a better job, we need to do a better job.”

Additionally, Senator Carper stressed how the Senate must continue to confirm commissioners to the PRC to improve the financial solvency of the United States Postal Service:

“Senator Peters and I have worked for years […] to make sure that we have a postal service that we can be proud of, that provides not just mail services for folks that are deployed around the world in our armed forces, but to meet the [needs of] our constituents across the country. […] We have worked on legislation to try to stabilize the operation of the Postal Service and their finances, and we’re still facing a situation where the quality of service, as evaluated by people who contact my office every month, is not getting better, and in many cases, is getting worse. […] We’ve got to find a way to [better this operation] for the people we serve, and for the people who work with the Postal Service.”

A video of Senator Carper’s questions at today’s hearing can be found here.

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