Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) believes the United States Postal Service (USPS) is failing its responsibility to the American people.

Aderholt is leading a bipartisan effort to examine growing problems in the nation's postal system.

The congressman discussed the issue on WVNN's “Yaffie Program” on Friday.

“Service is getting worse,” Aderholt said, “not just for individuals but for businesses.”

Aderholt gave an example of how USPS delays can have a huge impact on constituents' lives.

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“We had a woman who almost had her electricity cut off because the post office delivered her payment almost three weeks after she mailed it,” he explained. “This is especially true with newspapers, where newspapers don't want to deliver newspapers so that the paper their customers receive isn't even a week old.”

The congressman said he is working on introducing legislation that would help make the USPS more accountable.

“I'm looking at introducing legislation that would require a 95 percent newspaper delivery rate. Newspapers would have to submit annual reports to make sure they're meeting that standard. I'd also like to implement things like blocking postal rate increases if mail isn't being delivered on time and consistently.”

Aderholt is not the only member of Alabama's congressional delegation to point out the problem, with U.S. Rep. Dale Strong (R-Monrovia) also calling for a new facility to speed up deliveries to north Alabama.

“I think it's a great idea,” he said. “I've heard he's doing it, and I fully support it. And, of course, a lot of my constituents get their mail through the Huntsville facility because we're on the fringe of the Huntsville area. So a lot of my constituents would benefit from that. So, I think it's a great idea, especially with the growth of the Huntsville area. I think they needed a processing facility there. And hopefully it will alleviate some of the volume at the Birmingham facility, which is my office's processing facility.”

Yaffe is a contributing writer for Yellow Hammer News and hosts “The Yaffe Program” weekdays from 9-11 a.m. WhistlerYou can follow him on X @Yaffe