The publication is reproduced in full below:
POSTAL SERVICE REFORM ACT
Mr. SCHUMER. Now, Mr. President, last night--and this is relevant to what we just did, putting the new bill on the calendar for a second reading. Last night, we had a chance to continue progress on a bipartisan, long-overdue postal reform bill when I moved to expeditiously fix a few technical errors to the legislation sent to us by the House. Sadly, my request was blocked by the junior Senator from Florida without much in the way of clear explanation.
For instance, he says he wants to stand up for postal workers, but all the organizations representing postal workers strongly support this bill. They are eager for it. He says he wants to protect and strengthen Medicare, but the Postal Service already pays into Medicare; and the CBO says this proposal, this bill, will save the government money.
So I hope for the sake of our postal workers, our Postal Service, and for the millions, tens of millions, and even hundreds of millions of Americans who depend on the Postal Service, that this is not obstruction for obstruction's sake.
This is a textbook example of why Americans often get frustrated with the Senate and with Washington. Postal reform is highly bipartisan. It got a majority of votes in the House from both parties. It is desperately needed. We all hear from our constituents about snail mail and the price they pay for it. It is backed by both parties in both Houses, including the chairman and ranking member of the relevant committees--the Democratic and Republican leading members of both committees. And it has broad support from the postal workers, who tend to be Democratic, and Postmaster DeJoy, who is a friend of President Trump's and was appointed by him.
Nevertheless, it was blocked. I am sure that Republicans don't want to be the party that was responsible for blocking popular and bipartisan postal reform.
The delay is regrettable, but the good news is that we will get bipartisan postal reform done. It has been negotiated for months and debated for a decade. It has enough bipartisan support--more than enough--ample support to become law, and I am hopeful we will move it through this Chamber as quickly as we can. And that is what the procedural motion I did before was about.
And I certainly want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for working on this bill, particularly, my friend Chairman Gary Peters, who spoke passionately last night in defense of the bill and rebutted all of the Senator from Florida's arguments handily. And I look forward to getting postal reform passed through this Chamber very soon.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 30
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
Alerts Sign-up