Providing for Consideration of H.R. Postal Service Reform Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, rise in opposition to this postal reform bill not because it does nothing good but because it doesn't do enough.

The post office is a constitutionally authorized yet failed organization. It has failed to make a profit. It has failed to properly serve the American people, and everyone who has a mailbox knows it.

I am pleased that this body and the ranking member are tackling postal issues, but this is not sufficient reform. Unfortunately, for that reason, I cannot support this bill.

The problems with the post office are clear and longstanding. Congress established the post office to be a self-supporting organization, and from the time it received a $100 billion-line of credit, it has simply used credit to cover its losses.

I could agree that prepayment would not be necessary if they were meeting their responsibility on a pay-as-you-go basis to be profitable and to make those reforms. In fact, in 2020, under the CARES Act, Congress provided $10 billion in emergency funding, and yet in 2020 they lost $18 billion and are on course over the next 18 months to lose $22 billion. The fact is they haven't made a profit since 2006 as they are mandated.

The truth is the post office isn't lacking liquidity. It is bankrupt, and nothing in this bill will make the post office truly solvent. It simply wipes out and wipes away debts and shifts the burden on to taxpayers. The bill forgives $46 billion in debts owed by the Postal Service forcing the taxpayers to pay it.

Years ago, when I offered real reform, reform that would save on a constant basis real money, 6, 7, $8 billion a year, those reforms, because they lowered total labor, were unacceptable to the post office even if they were through attrition.

I do support some of the changes, and I do support the Post Master's attempt to modernize the post office, but without teeth in the actual organizational reforms, the post office will continue to lose money, and for that reason I cannot yet support this bill.

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