On the recordFebruary 8, 2022
I thank the chair and the ranking member for this amazing legislation. To my good friend from Oregon, Mr. DeFazio, I remember that bill year after year after year because the post office was given the death penalty. That is what happened in the dark of night. I worked for the post office. Yes, I remember sorting the mail in those old days. But what I most remember is the 1 million new delivery points every year that the post office adds. While others are making a lot of money, they go to the rural areas. I also remember the letter carriers, the rural postmasters, and all the hardworking men and women who were coming to us week after week, day after day, and said: We are dying out here, and we need to be able to have our healthcare taken care of. But guess what? The post office had to prepay it. No one else had ever had to do that. It was one of the highest liabilities. Along with that, they were required to fund their pension liabilities at a much higher level than the rest of the Federal Government. To conserve cash, they hadn't been paying since 2012. Can you imagine, they stopped paying their bills since 2012 because they didn't have any money? By more closely integrating Medicare, USPS estimates it can save $22.6 billion over 10 years. What a smart thing to do. Then, of course, the Postal Service Reform Act would eliminate the requirement of the prepaid retirement. And, then, it would require USPS to develop a public-facing online dashboard.…
