On May 7, Grassley received a letter from Daniel Cesar of Mt. Sterling informing him thathandicapped visitors to the Keosaqua Post Office must be able to negotiate four steps just to get totheir mailbox. Cesar wrote that after repeated inquiries to the United States Postal Service, no actionhad been taken. He asked Grassley to help, saying "you are our last hope."
Grassley quickly sent a letter to Thomas Johnson, the District Manager of the HawkeyeDistrict of the U.S. Postal District, asking him to address the matter. On June 4, Johnson responded, "I'm pleased to be able to inform you that bids for the construction of a handicapped entrance willsoon be accepted."
"Giving every citizen equal access to government services is an important foundation to ourrepresentative democracy," said Grassley. "The United States Postal Service has finally made thecorrect decision with regards to the Keosaqua Post Office. For too long, the postal service ignoredthe legitimate complaints of concerned Iowans. I'm pleased that I was able to intervene on theirbehalf."
The U.S. Postal Service anticipates that the handicapped accessible entrance project will becompleted by the end of the summer.
Each year, Grassley works to assist thousands of Iowans who contact his office seekingassistance in dealing with federal government agencies.
Contact: Scott Stanzel, 202/224-6197