Article 1, Section 8, Clause 7 says the Congress shall have the power to establish Post Offices and Post Roads.
The postal service is essential for providing critical services: delivering prescriptions, Social Security benefits, paychecks, tax returns and absentee ballots to millions of Americans, including in our most remote communities.
The USPS also handles 48% of the world’s mail volume. It provides military postal service in 67 countries and diplomatic mail service in 113 countries.
The US Postal Service is also popular. Ninety-one percent of Americans view the U.S. Postal Service favorably. That is the highest ratings of any federal agency, according to the nonpartisan Pew Research Service.
It also employs nearly 650,000 workers and has more than 600,000 retirees and survivors who receive benefits. The Postal Service employs more than 97,000 military veterans and is one of the largest employers of veterans in the country.
The USPS is a lifeline for Americans across the country. Yet, the President continues to wage an all-out assault on the Postal Service and its hardworking employees. In addition, the Postmaster General – a major Trump donor – continues to push forward policies that accelerate the crisis at the Postal Service, delaying mail and jeopardizing the integrity of the elections.
This is unacceptable.
I am a strong supporter of the USPS and the essential service that it provides to families across our nation and district. Now, more than ever, it is critical that we support the US Postal Service with the necessary federal funding to continue serving our communities.
The U.S. Postal Service recently announced that it lost $2.2 billion in the second quarter of the year and officials warn it could top $20 billion over two years.
That is why my colleagues and I voted in favor of the Heroes Act. Through this legislation, the USPS would be provided $25 billion in
emergency funding and postal workers would receive needed relief. We passed this critical legislation back in May!
Later this week, the House will return to session to vote on the ‘Delivering for America Act,’ I co-sponsored this critical legislation which prohibits the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or the level of service it had in place on January 1, 2020.
In addition, it provides $25 billion in emergency funding for the postal service.
Furthermore, Chairwoman Maloney and the Committee on Oversight and Reform have requested that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the Chairman of the USPS Board of Governors, Robert Duncan, testify at an urgent hearing before the Committee on August 24.
The Postmaster General and top Postal Service leadership must answer to the Congress and the American people as to why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions, just months before the election.
In addition, we have written to the Postmaster General multiple times to demand answers: including in a detailed, ten-page letter giving the Postmaster General a one-week deadline to produce a host of key documents and information relating to these matters
We have also sent letters calling for a reversal of policies that have worsened the crisis facing the Postal Service and exacerbated a dramatic increase in delayed and undelivered mail.
The administration’s efforts to hurt the postal service will be detrimental to the livelihoods of families across Texas and the nation.
It will not only be detrimental to the November elections but hurt rural families that are having a hard time during this pandemic. That is why my colleagues and I in the House have been pushing for critical post office funding for months and having been fighting against attempts to hurt the post office.
The Postal service employs tens of thousands of veterans, provides vital services, and is critical to our local communities. Do not mess with USPS!
Editor’s Note: The above guest column comprises the prepared remarks of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar for a news conference held at the Laredo Veterans Post Office on Tuesday, Aug. 18. The news conference was held by Cuellar to push for more funding for the US Postal Service.
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