Three Important Bills

Floor Speech

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Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share my support of three important bills that were considered by the House on Wednesday: H.R. 4044, the Protect and Restore America's Estuaries Act; H.R. 4031, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act; and H.R. 2382, the USPS Fairness Act.

Regrettably, I was unable to cast my votes for this legislation, but had I been able to, I would have voted to pass all three.

I had the pleasure to support Mr. Malinowski's and Mr. Joyce's bills in the full Transportation and Infrastructure Committee markup and would have gladly voted for them on the House floor as well.

I am particularly disappointed to have missed the vote on the USPS Fairness Act, offered by Chairman DeFazio, which I cosponsored. Importantly, it would repeal the 2006 mandate that the U.S. Postal Service prefund future retiree health benefits.

My mom has had a long civil service career at the U.S. Post Office, and so the issue really hits home for me.

No other industry is so unfairly burdened with prefunding benefits in this way, and this bill would help stem the financial losses faced by the USPS. What is more, it would have no effect on the Federal budget.

This legislation is not the end of the discussion for how we protect this vital industry and its workers; it is merely the beginning.

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