Partisan Politics Won't Solve Our Problems

As appeared in the August 27, 2020 edition of the Lititz Record Express, Elizabethtown Advocate & Ephrata Review

The House of Representatives was called into session on Saturday, August 22, 2020, to vote on legislation related to the United States Postal Service (USPS). I had sincerely hoped that Speaker Pelosi would have used the opportunity, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, to provide for American families and small businesses looking for continued economic support. Unfortunately, that was not the case and Speaker Pelosi called the House of Representatives back into session to vote on an unnecessary bill to provide $25 billion to the USPS.

The USPS has available the cash liquidity to continue operations into August 2021. As a part of the CARES Act, an additional $10 billion has already been made available to the USPS, which they have yet to use. There are long term operational issues at the USPS that need to be addressed. This legislation would not solve any of the long-term business issues facing the USPS, but merely attempts to throw money at the problem without any structural change. It has not been made clear how the proposed additional funds would be spent.

After years of declining mail volumes and substantial annual financial losses, it is clear that the USPS must undergo substantial reforms in order to preserve its services and meet its long-term financial obligations. This legislation lacks and reforms and does not help the USPS respond to those challenges. This is nothing more than a misguided messaging bill which creates unnecessary and unfounded doubt about the integrity of the upcoming election.

The USPS handles several hundred million pieces of mail each day and processed over 146 billion pieces of mail last year alone. The suggestion that the USPS would not be able to process additional election mail is simply ludicrous. Even if all of the approximately 150 million registered voters cast their votes by mail, the volume would be less than six percent of what the USPS delivers each week. That new traffic would not eclipse what the USPS processes on a daily basis and, in his testimony before the U.S. Senate, Postmaster General DeJoy assured Congress that the USPS stands ready to ensure all election mail is delivered on time.

At a time when our country needs Congress to come together to deliver for the American people, the last session should not have been focused on the USPS, but on the most prescient problems facing American families and small businesses. Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats should have followed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's lead and brought up for a vote legislation similar to what he is proposing, which includes a short-term renewal of federal unemployment assistance, additional funding to support students and teachers, extending the Paycheck Protection Program and providing pandemic-related liability protections.

Schools across the nation and PA-11 are getting ready to welcome students back, small businesses need support to keep their hardworking employees on the payroll, and those who have found themselves out of work, through no fault of their own, continue to need support, as well. There is simply no excuse for Speaker Pelosi's further delay on these critical issues.