Mary Gay Scanlon: “I thank my colleague from the Rules Committee for yielding. Mr. Speaker, for as long as our country has existed, the…”

“I thank my colleague from the Rules Committee for yielding. Mr. Speaker, for as long as our country has existed, the United States Postal Service has played a critical role in the function of our country. Whether delivering news or bills, medicine or ballots, income tax refunds or in a few days maybe Valentines, Americans--our small businesses and our State, national, and local governments--rely on the post office and the essential daily services it provides. The famous motto of the Postal Service is: ``Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.'' How glad we have been to see them completing those rounds during a pandemic which limited our ability to get goods and services from other places and which limited our ability in some cases to get to the polling places. While the U.S. Postal Service has always been essential, in the last 2 years it has been even more so, as it has helped us all to navigate a highly transmissible virus. Unfortunately, during that same time, we have seen the Postal Service struggle to navigate a series of highly disruptive policy changes that slowed service and financial constraints that have threatened its long- term health. Over the past 2 years I have heard from hundreds of constituents about problems with the Postal Service, all asking: What is Congress going to do about it?…”