ROSELAND – The gathering was about the post office, a vital concern for many.

But the worldwide news of the day could not be ignored.

And so when Mikie Sherrill stepped to the podium on this cold Thursday morning, she first talked about Ukraine.

Sherrill, who was in Ukraine a few weeks ago as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation, expressed “heartfelt sadness” for the plight of Ukraine’s people.

She said the U.S. and the international community gave Vladimir Putin every opportunity to change his course, but he chose not to do so.

Sherrill, a one time Russia intelligence officer while serving in the Navy, said sanctions must directly target Putin, his cronies and Russian oligarchs.

“We need to show Putin just how damaging this aggression will be to his country and his allies,” she said.

Sherrill said one encouraging note amid the gloomy news is that not only NATO, but the entire world is united, mentioning support for Ukraine from such countries as Japan and Australia. She said that’s a welcome change from the previous administration, which often withdrew from America’s traditional allies and partners.

The official reason Sherrill and a contingent of state and local politicos were holding forth in downtown Roseland had to do with improving mail service. Others on hand were Assemblyman John McKeon, Essex County Executive Joe DiVencenzo, Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura, and Mayor James Spango.

The congresswoman said some pieces of mail take up to two weeks to travel a short distance and that some deliveries aren’t made until late in the day, rendering the term, “morning mail,” a misnomer.

Bipartisan legislation that just passed the House aims to fix that.

Among other things, it would maintain six-day a week delivery, require a post office to put performance data on-line and put the service on better financial footing by ending the practice of pre-funding, employee retirement benefits.

Sherrill said she was optimistic the bill would pass the Senate, where it already has 14 Republican co-sponsors.

All well and good, but how about SALT?

Eliminating the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, a product of the Trump Administration, has been a so far unmet goal of Democrats since 2019.

Sherrill is not giving up, despite the failure in the Senate of the Build Back Better act, which would have eliminated the cap.

She said that any upcoming bill that addresses taxing must include SALT changes. If not, neither Sherrill, nor like-minded representatives from affected states, primarily New Jersey and New York, would vote for it.

Rep. Sherrill Statement on Unprovoked Military Strikes in Ukraine By Russia

Parsippany, NJ – Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) released the following statement on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked military strikes in Ukraine:

“Vladimir Putin has instigated an unprovoked and unjustifiable attack against Ukraine––a sovereign, democratic nation,” said Rep. Sherrill. “He has attempted to rewrite history and has unleashed propaganda and disinformation in pursuit of his clear desire to rebuild the Soviet Union’s so-called sphere of influence. The strikes he authorized last night are unconscionable, and he is directly responsible for the deaths caused.

I am supportive of the sanctions imposed so far by the US and our allies, but our sanctions must impose more consequences on Putin and his cronies. In addition to freezing monetary assets, we should immediately restrict travel for Oligarchs and their families. We must remove Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system and put into place full blocking sanctions for the Russian Central Bank. We must sanction Putin himself. It is critical to show Putin just how damaging this decision to invade will be to his country and his allies.”

Rep. Sherrill is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and served in the Navy for almost 10 years as a helicopter pilot and Russian policy officer. As a Russian policy officer, she worked on the implementation of our nuclear treaty obligations and oversaw the relationship between the US Navy and Russian Federation Navy. She now serves on the House Armed Services Committee, where she serves as the Vice Chair of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee.