Chairman Crowley and Reps. Larson, Davis, Cummings, Beyer, and Moore Call on President Trump to Stop Closing Social Security Field Offices

  Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley, Reps. John Larson, Danny Davis, Elijah Cummings, Donald Beyer, and Gwen Moore called on President Trump to stop closing Social Security field offices across the country. In the last year alone, the Social Security Administration (SSA) shuttered offices in Virginia, Wisconsin, Maryland, and Illinois.

As the Baby Boom generation ages and the number of Americans relying on Social Security benefits continues to rise, SSA field offices are in high demand. These offices provide a great service to the community, providing beneficiaries with resources and in-person assistance. Closing these offices creates an undue hardship on seniors and other beneficiaries who may face challenges in traveling further to get the help they need, as well as lead to overcrowding and longer wait times at other locations.

The members are calling on the president to stop the closures, and in the event that an office has closed, another should be opened to provide these much-needed services to the community.

“Now is the time to declare a moratorium on the closure of SSA field offices. In the event that a specific office must be closed due to unique circumstances, another one should be opened serving the same population in a nearby location – it should not be ‘consolidated’ into other offices, thereby reducing overall access to service in the local community. We urge you to act quickly before more damage is done to those seeking Social Security,” the members wrote in the letter.

The letter can be read here. 

EDITOR'S NOTE:

We would have liked to see in addition to the vanishing Social Security offices that the vanishing or cut backs to post offices that now close on a semi regular basis since there can be only one clerk in a Bronx post office have been included. 

It is bad enough that many Bronx residents experience poor total service from the Postal Department, but perhaps Chairman Crowley should has contacted his fellow Bronx representatives on the needs of their districts.

We mean this in no way to criticize Congressman Crowley, but make him aware of the Bronx postal problem if he is not already aware of it.