Support of U.S. Postal Service Fairness Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2382, or the U.S. Postal Service Fairness Act up for a vote today.

Madam Speaker, 13 years ago, the Postal Service was saddled by this body when we required it--not with my support--to prefund its retirement benefits. Unfortunately, this prevented the Postal Service from addressing critical equipment modernization needs. Thankfully, this legislation allows us to correct this misguided requirement.

The post office is a constitutionally mandated institution. A sense of community is sustained every time the mailwoman or mailman delivers a letter, increasing connectivity in rural and urban districts alike. The Postal Service delivers close to 190 million pieces of mail every single day and is a testament to American ingenuity. Indeed, postal workers are the best ambassadors, receiving an overwhelmingly high public approval rating of 74 percent.

While we work to ensure the post office's financial health, we must also continue to increase innovation, such as through modernizing postal services. For example, creative initiatives could increase access to basic functions in post offices and underserved communities.

I thank my friend, Representative Peter DeFazio, for his true leadership on this bill, and urge all my colleagues to support its passage, and thank those who did.

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