Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3076) to provide stability to and enhance the services of the United States Postal Service, and for other purposes; providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 6617) making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, and for other purposes; and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 912, I call up the bill (H.R. 3076) to provide stability to and enhance the services of the United States Postal Service, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials on H.R. 3076.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act, which I introduced along with my distinguished ranking member, Mr. Comer.

I am proud to say that our bill, the bill before us today, is the result of a truly bipartisan effort from the beginning until our time on the floor today. We have jointly over 100 cosponsors almost evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. And according to the nonpartisan CBO, this bill actually reduces Federal spending by $1.5 billion over the next 10 years.

The administration also supports the bill's efforts to ``strengthen the U.S. Postal Service.''

Madam Speaker, I include the President's statement in the Record.

Statement of Administration Policy

H.R. 3076--postal service reform act of 2022--rep. maloney, d-ny, and

102 cosponsors

The Administration supports House passage of H.R. 3076, the

Postal Service Reform Act of 2022. The United States Postal

Service and its dedicated employees provide an essential

public service and the critical public infrastructure for the

delivery of mail and packages to all Americans in every

corner of the country. The Postal Service provides crucial

support to millions of Americans, including our Nation's

veterans, including by ensuring their ability to vote and

providing access to prescription medications. Furthermore,

the Postal Service is an indispensable complement to and

foundational support for American businesses and communities.

The Administration supports efforts to strengthen the

United States Postal Service, including by providing Postal

employees with the dignity, fair pay, and employer-provided

benefits they have earned. The Administration is committed to

ensuring that the Postal Service delivers the highest

quality, most reliable service possible to every American.

This legislation would advance these goals in several ways.

Under current law, the Postal Service is required to

annually prepay future retirement health benefits, a

requirement not imposed on most other public or private

entities. Consistent with the President's longstanding

commitment, H.R. 3076 would repeal this requirement, which

unfairly and unnecessarily burdens the Postal Service.

H.R. 3076 would also establish a new, separate Postal

Service Health Benefits Program (PSHBP) within the existing

Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), that

integrates Postal employees and annuitants into Medicare.

Making these changes would improve the Postal Service's long-

run financial outlook, without sacrificing quality,

affordable health coverage for Postal employees and retirees.

The Administration is mindful that these reforms would impose

administrative burdens on the Office of Personnel Management

and FEHBP, and further, that there could be potential

challenges with operationalizing Medicare integration and

with ensuring ongoing funding to support administration of

the new PSHPB. The Administration looks forward to working

with Congress to ensure that the goals of H.R. 3076 are met

in an efficient, equitable, and cost-effective manner, while

safeguarding the continued stability of the FEHBP.

Finally, H.R. 3076 would establish new transparency and

reporting requirements for the Postal Service and its

regulator, the Postal Regulatory Commission; require the

Postal Service to provide semi-annual reports to Congress on

the implementation of its strategic plan; provide for a

public dashboard using nationwide delivery metrics to track

delivery performance; and mandate a review of the costing of

competitive and non-competitive products. The Administration

supports these efforts to improve accountability, reliability

and transparency at the Postal Service.

The Postal Service is one of America's most vital and respected institutions. Originally established in Article I of the Constitution, for over two centuries it has provided service across our country to every single address whether you are in an urban skyscraper or rural family farm. It binds our Nation together in ways that no agency or organization does, and it adds over 1 million new delivery points every year.

This bill is an agreement to fix some of the serious problems that have been looming over the post office for years and threatening its financial stability.

It is an agreement that was reached with input from Democrats, Republicans, the postal unions, the postal professionals, and a wide array of private- and public-sector stakeholders. Over 200 different organizations have come out in support of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a list of the organizations in support of this bill.

Organizations Supporting the Postal Service Reform Act

American Postal Workers Union; National Association of

Letter Carriers; National Rural Letter Carriers Association;

National Postal Mail Handlers Union; United States Postal

Service; National Active and Retired Federal Employees

Association; Federal-Postal Coalition; National Association

of Postal Supervisors; Package Coalition; Scholastic; Pitney

Bowes; CVS Health; eBay; International Paper; National Retail

Federation; OSM Worldwide; Pharmaceutical Care Management

Association; Pirate Ship; Keep Us Posted; Consumer Action.

Sylvamo; Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service;

American Catalog Mailers Association; American Forest & Paper

Association; Association of National Advertisers; Envelope

Manufacturers Association; Greeting Card Association; Major

Mailers Association; MailersHub; National Association of

Presort Mailers; National Newspaper Association; National

Postal Policy Council; National Retail Federation; Letter in

Support of H.R. 3076, p. 2; News Media Alliance; Parcel

Shippers Association; Printing United Alliance; Retail

Industry Leaders Association; Saturation Mailers Coalition;

The Package Coalition Companies.

4-Imprint; Action Mail Presort; AIIM; All Island Media;

Amazon; Arcadia News; AT&T; Ballard Designs; Baudville Inc.;

BCC Software; Belk; Biely & Shoaf Co., Blue Kite Press;

BlueCrest; Bluegrass Integrated Communications; Bluestone

Perennials; BMS Direct; BMS Technologies; Business

Communication Solutions (BCS); C & G Newspaper.

Calyx Flowers, Inc.; Cathedral Corporation; Centron Data

Services; Christianbook, LLC; Clarity; CohereOne; Colony

Brands: Montgomery Ward, Seventh Avenue, Ginny's, Midnight

Velvet, Monroe & Main; The Swiss Colony, The Tender Filet;

The Wisconsin Cheeseman, Country Door, Ashro; Columbia

Sportswear; Community Papers of Michigan; Content Critical

Solutions; Continuum | Marketing Production Services;

Corporate Mailing Services; Corporate Mailing Services (CMS);

Data Media Associates; Datamatx; Datapage; DataProse;

Demographix Media.

Design Toscano; Direct Mail Solutions; DMM; DNI Corp.;

Domtar; Doxim; EasyPost; eBay; Etsy; Everything Marketing,

LLC; Fairytale Brownies; Fluence; FRONTGATE; FSSI; Gardener's

Supply Company; Garnet Hill; Genesee Valley Pennysavers;

Grayhair Software; Grizzly Industrial, Inc.; Hallmark Cards,

Inc.; Harbor Sweets.

Hatteras/FocusOne; HC3; Holt's Cigar Company; HSN; IC

Group; ICS Corp; Image Options; Impact; Improvements; IMS;

Indrio Brands: Hale Groves, Pittman & Davis, Sun Harvest

Citrus, StuartDM; InfoIMAGE; Inland Press; International

Bridge; International Paper; Japs Olson; Johnson & Quin; JSM;

Kathleen Schultz Marketing; King Solutions; K-Log; L & D Mail

Masters; L&M Mail & Courier; Las Vegas Presort; Legacy

Publishing Group; Lett Direct; LSC Communications; Mail

Maine; Mailbox Merchants; Mailing Services of Pittsburgh;

Mailing Technical Services, Inc.; Midland; Midwest Direct;

National Grange; Mountain Hard Wear; MPX; MRS Mail Express;

My Shipping Post; Northern Safety & Industrial Novica.

Nueske's Applewood Smoked Meats; OBRIEN; OSG; OSM

Worldwide; Package Shippers Association; Path2Response; PCI

Group; Pill Pack; Pirate Ship; Pitney Bowes; Pittsburgh

Mailing; Plow & Hearth; PMSI; Polaris Direct, LLC; Poshmark;

Potpourri Group: Cuddledown, NorthStyle, The Pyramid

Collection, Serengeti, In the Company of; Dogs, Magellan's,

Catalog Favorites, Young Explorers, Back in the Saddle,

Whatever Works; Country Store, Expressions, Nature's Jewelry,

The Stitchery, SafeFinds, TravelSmith; Chadwicks; prAna.

Premier Press; Presort Essentials, Inc.; Print Mail

Solutions; Print Mannschaft; Prolist; Publishers Clearing

House; Quad Inc.; Qurate Retail Group; QVC; R.R. Donnelley;

Raymond Geddes & Co., Inc.; Recreation Supply Company;

RevSpring; Scottish Gourmet USA LLC; Shades of Light; Shark

Publications, LLC; Shippo; Signature Graphics; Silver Star

Brands: Miles Kimball, Walter Drake, Easy Comforts,

Exposures, As We Change; NativeRemedies, Fox Valley Traders.

SiteForm, Inc.; Smart Market, Inc; Sorel; Specialty Print

Communications; Sporty's; Summit Direct; Letter in Support of

H.R. 3076, p. 5; Sylvamo; Target Direct; The Bradford

Exchange: Hammacher Schlemmer; The

Dingley Press; The Masters Touch; The PLD Group; The Vermont

Country Store; Think Patented; TLC Management, Inc.; United

Business Mail; United Mailing Services; United Postmasters

and Managers of America.

Up With Paper; Upper Valley Press; Ursa Major Associates;

USM Print Solutions; Value Direct, LLC; VariVerge; Whittier

Mailing Products Inc.; Wiland; Wisconsin Community Papers,

Town Money Saver; Wolverine Solutions Group; YRSTORE INC.;

Zappos; Zulil.

Madam Speaker, it is an agreement that contains two major reforms that together will save the post office over $50 billion in the coming decade.

First, the bill requires postal employees to enroll in Medicare when they are eligible and retire. All postal employees have already been paying into Medicare throughout their careers, but not all retirees could or would enroll when they reached 65. So the bill simply ensures that Postal Service employees can fully utilize the benefits that they have already paid for.

Second, the bill will eliminate the unfair requirement that the Postal Service prepay its retiree health benefits for 75 years into the future. This commonsense change will help reduce the burden on the retiree health benefit fund and help it remain solvent.

And the bill would provide Congress and the American people with a whole new level of transparency and accountability. It would establish an online, public-facing database that shows weekly service performance information by zip code.

The bill also requires the Postal Service to continue to deliver mail 6 days a week, using an integrated network, ensuring that Americans can receive their mail and medications on weekends.

The bill also enables our Postal Service to increase revenue through nonpostal services, such as selling permits to go fishing or hunting.

I would like to thank my friend, Ranking Member Comer, for his partnership on this bill and for helping to shepherd it to the floor. It has truly been a joint effort.

I would also like to thank Representatives Connolly, Lynch, Lawrence, and Foxx, for their work and dedication and devotion to getting this bill done.

I also would like to thank Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, Whip Clyburn, all of whom supported this and helped move it to the floor.

Let's do the right thing by all Americans and pass this bill, and send it to the Senate with a large support from this body.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this historic, bipartisan bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of

Representatives,

Washington, DC, February 8, 2022.

Hon. Carolyn Maloney,

Chairwoman, Committee on Oversight and Reform,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairwoman Maloney: I write concerning H.R. 3076, the

``Postal Service Reform Act of 2021,'' which was additionally

referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

In recognition of the desire to expedite consideration of

H.R. 3076, the Committee agrees to waive formal consideration

of the bill as to provisions that fall within the Rule X

jurisdiction of the Committee. The Committee takes this

action with the mutual understanding that we do not waive any

jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in this or

similar legislation, and that the Committee will be

appropriately consulted and involved as this bill or similar

legislation moves forward so that we may address any

remaining issues within our jurisdiction. I also request that

you support my request to name members of the Committee to

any conference committee to consider such provisions.

Finally, I would appreciate the inclusion of this letter

into the Congressional Record during floor consideration of

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the majority leader of this Congress.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I would like to join my colleague, Mr. Comer, in thanking Representative Foxx for her unique contribution to this bill. She is co-chair of the Postal Caucus and played a vital role in moving this bill to the floor.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the distinguished chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that has jurisdiction over this bill also, and I thank him for his leadership on this bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), the distinguished chair of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly), the distinguished

chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), the distinguished chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to

the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), the distinguished vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch), the distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Lawrence), the distinguished co- chair of the Congressional Women's Caucus.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), the distinguished chair of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

Madam Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman an additional 15 seconds.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Krishnamoorthi), the distinguished chair of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis), the distinguished chairman of the Worker and Family Support Subcommittee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), the distinguished chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.

Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, as we have heard many times on the floor today, the Postal Service is vital to the United States. It is so important that the Founding Fathers put it in the Constitution, right there under Article I. They did this because they knew that the Postal Service would keep our people connected and would ensure that no matter where a person lives in this country, they can receive mail and other critical deliveries.

As the gentleman, the dean, from Alaska said, one stamp can take you from across the street in an urban area all the way to Alaska to some of the most remote areas. It is a critical, critical service.

Madam Speaker, this bipartisan bill will dramatically improve the financial situation of the Postal Service--and I would say the country that depends on it--and enable it to continue performing these essential services for the American people.

We all know firsthand the incredible job that the postal workers did during the COVID-19 crisis, risking their lives to deliver our mail every day. While many of us were quarantined and safe in our homes, they were out interacting with people every day providing the service. At times in my district, half the Postal Service was out sick with COVID because of the interaction that they did to save our lives.

Just as 9/11 was helped so dramatically by the police and fire, along with the healthcare workers, this COVID crisis was helped dramatically by the Postal Service. They are really the heroes and heroines of this crisis.

Madam Speaker, I share my thanks for the support of so many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who understand and support the necessity of these reforms. A vote for this bill is not only a vote for the post office, I would say it is a vote for yourself, for the services that we all receive, for America, for our institutions, and our values.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter that lists all the Members who reached out to indicate that they would have cosponsored the bill had they had the opportunity to do so.

Committee on Oversight and Reform, House of

Representatives,

Washington, DC, February 8, 2022.

Cheryl L. Johnson,

Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Ms. Johnson: As a result of a clerical error, numerous

Members of Congress who had expressed interest in

cosponsoring H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act, were

not added to the bill before it was discharged

from all committees and placed on the union calendar. Below

is a list of the Members of Congress who would have

cosponsored H.R. 3076 had they been able to be added.

Brad Sherman (CA), David B. McKinley (WV), Andy Levin (MI),

Maria Elvira Salazar (FL), Mark Pocan (WI), Mariannnette

Miller-Meeks (IA), Salud Carbajal (CA), Madeleine Dean (PA),

Eric Swalwell (CA), Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE), Veronica

Escobar (TX), Jim Langevin (RI), Peter DeFazio (OR), Yvette

D. Clarke (NY), Peter Welch (VT), Betty McCollum (MN), Bobby

L. Rush (IL), Marc Veasey (TX), David Trone (MD), Nydia

Velazquez (NY), Brendan Boyle (PA), Alma Adams (NC).

Raul M. Grijalva (AZ), Ann Kuster (NH), Jim Himes (CT),

Robin Kelly (IL), Doris Matsui (CA), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Tom

Malinowski (NJ), Barbara Lee (CA), Haley Stevens (MI), Jake

Auchincloss (MA), Pramila Jayapal (WA), Greg Stanton (AZ),

Judy Chu (CA), Gregory Meeks (NY), John Yarmuth (KY), Deborah

Ross (NC), Colin Allred (TX), Antonio Delgado (NY), Jim

McGovern (MA), Donald Payne Jr. (NJ), Diana DeGette (CO),

William Keating (MA).

Sara Jacobs (CA), David Cicilline (RI), Andre Carson (IN),

Kweisi Mfume (MD), Mark DeSaulnier (CA), Lizzie Fletcher

(TX), Emanuel Cleaver (MO), Luis Correa (CA), Henry Cuellar

(TX), Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA), Paul Tonko (NY), Adam Smith

(WA), Suzan K. DelBene (WA), Danny K. Davis (IL), Chrissy

Houlahan (PA).

Jared Golden (ME), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA), Mike Levin (CA),

Matt Cartwright (PA), Sean Casten (IL), Vicente Gonzalez

(TX), Suzanne Bonamici (OR), Michael Waltz (FL), Julia

Brownley (CA), Jamie Raskin (MD), Ashley Hinson (IA), Glenn

``GT'' Thompson (PA), Mark Takano (CA), Adam Schiff (CA),

Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX).

Sincerely,

Carolyn B. Maloney

Chairwoman,

Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Madam Speaker, I also include in the Record a list of over 200 diverse organizations across our country that support this bill.

United States Postal Service,

Washington, DC, June 28, 2021.

Hon. Gary C. Peters,

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental

Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

Hon. Rob Portman,

Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security and

Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

Hon. Carolyn P. Maloney,

Chairwoman, Committee on Oversight and Reform, House of

Representatives, Washington, DC.

Hon. James Comer,

Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight and Reform, House of

Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Peters, Chairwoman Maloney, Ranking Member

Portman, and Ranking Member Comer: I want to salute your

leadership in introducing bipartisan, bicameral legislation

to restore the Postal Service to financial sustainability

while advancing service and operational accountability. You

have struck an important balance in the Postal Service Reform

Act, evident by the impressive list of bipartisan original

cosponsors. The American people and the men and women of the

Postal Service will be the beneficiaries of this outstanding

work for years to come.

The Postal Service supports the bill and has provided your

staff with modest technical refinements that we hope will be

adopted as the legislative process advances. We have provided

similar feedback to the Office of Management and Budget at

their request. Postal reform legislation has faltered in past

Congresses when language is added that unsettles the kind of

careful balance you have achieved in this bill. Accordingly,

I would commend your collective resolve in advancing a reform

bill limited to the current set of provisions.

I wanted to particularly comment on Section 202, the

Integrated Delivery Network provision, which as introduced

requires six-day delivery through an integrated delivery

network for market-dominant and competitive products. This

provision sets forth important principles that underlie the

Postal Service's provision of universal mail and package

delivery service and that therefore benefit the American

people. I strongly urge you to retain the wording as

introduced, despite what we consider to be a parochial and

misguided effort to modify or eliminate it.

I have elaborated in an attachment on the reasons this

provision is so essential to our mission.

I look forward to continuing to work with you to advance

the postal reform legislation you have put forward to serve

the interests of the American people. Each of you have

already shown yourselves to be exceptional leaders to

preserve this essential institution and its noble mission.

Please let me how we can assist in your important efforts.

Sincerely,

Louis DeJoy,

Postmaster General, CEO.

And I would again thank Ranking Member Comer for his partnership on this widely supported bill. It would not have happened without his partnership, and I am deeply grateful.

Madam Speaker, with that, I urge all of my colleagues to support this historic bipartisan bill. We rarely get a chance to vote for a bill that helps so many people, that actually saves taxpayers money, that reforms our government, doesn't cost anything. We are just reforming and making government work better to serve the people. That is what this bill is. It is a win-win-win in every direction.

Madam Speaker, I hope that this body would unanimously vote for it and send it to the Senate with a message that they should pass it as quickly as possible.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, Mr. Comer, for his leadership, his friendship, and for the long path we went through together to make this happen. I thank all my colleagues who participated in making this happen, particularly our Speaker and our leadership in this Congress.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this manager's amendment to H.R. 3076, which makes minor technical changes to the bill. We have already discussed this bill at length so I will be brief.

The Postal Service is one of America's most vital and respected institutions. Every American benefits from the services it provides. This bill will dramatically improve the financial situation of the Postal Service and will allow it to continue providing its essential services for years to come. The technical changes made by the manager's amendment will help ensure that the bill is implemented swiftly and effectively.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment, but before that, I want to really give my heartfelt thanks to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, the staff, that made this happen, particularly Mark Stephenson and Ethan VanNess.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer), my friend, the ranking member.

Madam Speaker, I urge passage of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 912 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler), pending which I yield

myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we met in the Rules Committee and reported a rule, House Resolution 912, providing for consideration of two different measures; first, H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, under a structured rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform. It makes in order a manager's amendment and provides for one motion to recommit.

The rule also provides for consideration of H.R. 6617, the Further Additional Extending Government Funding Act, under a closed rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations and provides for one motion to recommit.

Finally, the resolution adopts H. Con. Res. 69, which provides for a joint session of Congress to receive a message from the President, and the rule restricts former Members' access to the House floor during the joint session.

Mr. Speaker, the Postal Service Reform Act is a major update and improvement to what is going on with our post office. Even in this increasingly digital world, Americans rely on the U.S. Postal Service for access to lifesaving prescription drugs and other essential items of living.

In the ongoing pandemic, the Postal Service has been critical in helping tens of millions of Americans vote safely and securely.

The Postal Service is processing an astounding 5,000 pieces of mail each second and is responsible for processing and delivering 46 percent of the world's mail.

It is no surprise that first class mail used to send things like letters and bills is on the decline in the digital environment we live in. Still, the Postal Service remains a critical lifeline, especially for people who live in rural areas and Tribal communities and for people with disabilities.

The Postal Service adds a million new delivery points each year. That means that the Postal Service is delivering a little bit less mail but to a lot more places.

This act addresses the financial needs of the Postal Service, ensuring that we can continue relying on it for generations to come.

The decline in first class mail, increasing expenses, and the requirement that the Postal Service prefund retiree health benefits have all contributed to some financial instability in the Postal Service.

H.R. 3076 puts USPS on a far more stable financial footing. Specifically, it requires future Postal Service retirees to enroll in Medicare, saving the Postal Service $22 billion over the next decade. While retirees have paid into Medicare their entire careers, a quarter of retirees choose not to enroll, requiring the Postal Service to pay for higher premiums.

Similarly, the legislation also eliminates the uniquely arduous requirement that USPS prefund retiree health benefits for a period of 75 years. No other company or governmental entity has this requirement, which has resulted in significant financial losses for USPS.

The Postal Service Reform Act also strengthens transparency and requires 6-day integrated delivery, ensuring high-quality mail service for at least 6 days a week to all Americans. It requires USPS to develop an online dashboard detailing weekly national and local-level performance data to promote compliance with on-time mail delivery.

Mr. Speaker, the consideration of this measure gives us the opportunity to celebrate the remarkable successes of the post office in our history. The Founders created the post office even before they signed the Declaration of Independence, and they named, of course, Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General for the emerging Nation.

It was the post office that unified 13 divergent and quarreling Colonies into a nation as it created a great communications network that brought the news of the day and the news of public events to the doorstep of every fledgling American citizen. It was an idea that scandalized and horrified the European powers that, of course, always wanted to keep the people in the dark under the monarchies and aristocracies of Europe.

The post office also created the transportation system for America, which is why so many of our towns and cities have streets and roads called Post Road or Postal Road or Old Post Road running through the center of town.

The post office, of course, was an explicit delegation of power to Congress in the Constitution, as well as the power to build postal roads under Article I, Section 8.

The communications and transportation network created by the post office gave rise to the democratic political infrastructure of the Nation. This is how the committees of correspondence met that created the political will for the American Revolution and developed the political philosophy of our revolutionary forebearers.

The post office also gave rise to America's glorious free press. That is why so many of our newspapers, again, bear the name The Washington Post, the Buffalo-Courier Express, the Richmond Times-Dispatch. They were named after the postal operation that made the mass media possible in the country.

The post office has done wonders for American commerce and business, and continues to do that right up to today, so this legislation will help the post office grow and meet our needs in the new century.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his kind words for the bipartisan leadership and initiative taken in the Postal Service Reform Act, H.R. 3076.

Unfortunately, I have to take exception to the suggestion that this is somehow unique on our part. The gentleman may remember the bipartisan infrastructure act that the Democrats brought forward but we incorporated lots of Republicans in the process and we passed it on a bipartisan basis. That is more than $1 trillion invested in the roads, the highways, the ports, the airports, broadband, and cybersecurity.

That was something I remember was talked about during the last administration. I never saw a bill partisan, bipartisan, or otherwise come from that side of the aisle, but within the first year of the Biden administration that bipartisan infrastructure act was moved through Congress. We brought lots of Republicans in. I know a lot of them voted against it, some of whom are claiming credit for it back in their districts now.

But, in any event, this is not new for us. It takes two to tango. So I am glad that the gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognizing what we are doing here, but it is hardly unique in terms of the leadership being offered.

Mr. Speaker, speaking of bipartisan leadership, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), who is the chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her very lucid remarks.

One other historic breakthrough of the post office, I am recalling now, is the fact that it was the first Federal public institution to provide for the hiring of women, African Americans, and other minority groups. So I am glad, again, that we have got bipartisan support for this really critical measure to reform the post office in different ways in order to make it viable in the new century.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, a quick note on the gentleman from California's points. He concedes that our bipartisan legislation does a lot of good things, but he says that it doesn't do everything.

He makes the point that the post office is not making a profit. That is true. It is not making a profit. Of course, our offices don't make a profit. There are very few Federal entities that make a profit. That is not what government does. Government serves the people. We want to be as efficient as possible in doing that, but the post office serves people from Alaska to Hawaii to Puerto Rico to Florida to Texas.

Everybody gets mail, and we want to do it as efficiently and as effectively as possible, but the point is to make sure that we are all connected and that everybody gets the benefit of being able to get their prescription drugs, that small businesses are able to send out their parcels, that consumers are able to receive what it is they are ordering, and so on.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon), who is a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I do want to add one point to Ms. Scanlon's excellent delivery.

This legislation, the Postal Service Reform Act, requires the Postal Service to develop an online dashboard that will detail for all of us weekly national-and local-level performance data to promote compliance at every level with the on-time mail delivery expectations that we all have.

I too have spent time in a lot of neighborhoods of mine in Frederick County, Carroll County, and Montgomery County making sure that the Postal Service is getting on time delivery and making it happen. This new tool will allow all of us to monitor exactly what is going on in our particular communities.

I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6617, of course, extends funding for the Federal Government until March 11, 2022.

We eagerly anticipate the success of bipartisan negotiations for the full omnibus package.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Lawrence).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for those excellent remarks and note that I think she speaks for millions of postal workers across the country who are excited about this legislation and the reforms that it is going to institute. This has the endorsement of the American Postal Workers Union, the National Association of Letter Carriers, the mail handlers, and a number of other organizations that are invested in this. So we are excited about this bipartisan investment in making the Postal Service work for the people in this new century.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The Washington Post this morning has an article about how a number of Governors--California Governor Gavin Newsom, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Delaware Governor John Carney, and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont--have all announced changes to indoor masking requirements because of changes of where we are in the disease.

I certainly hope that my colleagues are not saying that we never should have worn masks, although I know some of them have said that and some of them have opposed masking guidance from the very beginning. Need I remind my colleagues that we have lost more than 900,000 people, including a lot of children, to this terrible disease. We have faced an epidemic of denialism from the beginning. Of course, the former President of the United States was out hawking quack medical cures and denying the virulence of the disease for a long time saying it would just disappear at Eastertime. Maybe everybody should just be injected with bleach.

We have come a long way from then, and President Biden has led us in an aggressive scientific effort, including masking where it was appropriate, in order to beat the disease, and we are making great progress. Now the States and localities are able to drop the masking requirements. So I see that they want to get on top of the wave and somehow claim that they are responsible for that when it was the President from their party who presided over an historically reckless and irresponsible approach to COVID-19, one that gave us a leading position in the spread of COVID-19.

So in any event, I haven't seen the bill that they have just introduced yet. I know that the Biden administration has used the post office to ship 500 million coronavirus test kits to people across the country, which, again, underscores the importance of the legislation we are really here to talk about today.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The gentleman from Pennsylvania doesn't have to take it from me. He can take it from President Trump's own Coronavirus Response Coordinator, Deborah Birx.

Dr. Birx said the first 100,000 deaths were perhaps inevitable, but the hundreds of thousands that came after it were avoidable and were the cost of the failure to undertake the public health precautions that were required. So, I would direct him to Dr. Birx.

Of course, when the virus was out of control and President Biden came into office, he was doing everything in his power to try to reverse the damage done by the lethal irresponsibility of the prior administration.

But in any event, Madam Speaker, we are here to try to get beyond all the wreckage at this point. We are here to fund the government through March 11. We are here to make these substantial reforms to the post office, on a bipartisan basis, that will make the post office far more efficient; that will guarantee 6-day service to our people all over the country; that will end that uniquely difficult and punitive policy of making the Postal Service alone have to prefund everybody's healthcare for the next 75 years, which explains a lot of its financial problems. That is what we are here to do today.

We are making progress for America, and we are trying to do it on a bipartisan basis. It seems strange to me that my colleagues would try to pick a fight about COVID-19 in this context when we are just trying to recover from the wreckage left by the prior administration.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Someone just tuning in right now might be a little confused and think that we are somehow debating COVID-19. We are here to talk about bipartisan legislation on the Postal Service and to keep the government open until March 11.

I would just point out to my good friend from Pennsylvania, who I am afraid seemed to disparage science on our side or the professional credentials of Dr. Deborah Birx, who was the former President's coronavirus coordinator; she went to Penn State medical school. I don't think the gentleman from Pennsylvania meant to disparage her educational credentials, certainly as a graduate of Penn State.

Look, we don't need the Federal Government dictating to the States and the localities what their policies are going to be about masking. I just read this morning about a bunch of States--I think they have Democratic Governors; New York, California, Delaware--that have pulled back on their masking policies because the virus, today, has dramatically subsided.

Are we going to pass a Federal bill every time the virus goes up or the virus goes down and tell them what their rules are going to be? Come on. I thought that we were all champions of federalism. But instead, they want to dictate it from up on high.

Remember, what this legislation is about--and I wish we could focus more on it--is reform of the Postal Service.

We have bipartisan support now for this. I am delighted to learn that it is not just the postal unions that I invoked before, but we have a bunch of postal associations for it. We have the American Postal Workers Union, the National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, the National Association of Postal Supervisors, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees, the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, the Package Shippers Association, the Major Mailers Association, the National Newspaper Association, Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, Publishers Clearing House, American Catalog Mailers Association, and the National Retail Federation.

We have both the workers in the Postal Service and then big businesses and small businesses across the country, underscoring the fact that the Postal Service remains the central nervous system of commerce in America as well as our public life. That is something that we should be celebrating rather than picking an unnecessary fight, which is completely irrelevant to this legislation, about what is going on at the State and local level in other places.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to say a word on behalf of Stacey Abrams, who was the target of some rhetorical attacks over there.

There is a picture of her without her mask on in front of a bunch of kids who did have their masks on, and it was being denounced by the speaker from North Carolina momentarily and also by the floor leader, who didn't have their masks on, standing in front of a whole group of people who did have their masks on.

In other words, they were in exactly the same position Stacey Abrams was, because the rule of reason we have adopted according to medical advice, I think across the country, is where masks are recommended and indicated, people wear them unless they are speaking. To turn that into a political football to denounce a fellow public servant seems to be a little bit beneath the dignity of this body.

But in any event, we are very excited about our postal reform legislation that we are moving through to guarantee excellent 6-day service to everybody, to have an online dashboard so we can all keep track of where the mail is in different parts of the country, and if there are problems, we can address them quickly.

I am glad we have bipartisan legislation--at least I hope it is bipartisan--to keep the government open until March 11.

As for COVID-19 policies, I think we should trust the States and the localities to deal with the manifold questions that come up as we continue to address this public health crisis, which was, of course, set into motion by a President who denied it, avoided it, said he would refuse to wear a mask even when it was indicated, who got it, who had dozens of doctors at his beck and call, who flew in a helicopter to get himself served.

Look, we need to get back on track in America. That means the government has to work for everybody. We have got to stop fighting about public health. We have got to work together for public health, just like we have got to work together for the post office, a great American institution which we improve and we advance today in the 21st century.

The material previously referred to by Mr. Reschenthaler is as follows:

Amendment to House Resolution 912

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 4. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the

House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the

bill (H.R. 6619) to prohibit the Secretary of Education from

providing Federal funds to a local educational agency unless

in-person instruction is available to all students and

parents may opt out of student mask mandates, and for other

purposes. All points of order against consideration of the

bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All

points of order against provisions in the bill are waived.

The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the

bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without

intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally

divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority

member of the Committee on Education and Labor; and (2) one

motion to recommit.

Sec. 5. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the

consideration of H.R. 6619.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, 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.

Again, the idea is to save the post office for the American people, save it for the workers, and save it because it is patriotic to do so. I congratulate you.

Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the House and the Committee on Homeland Security, and as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, and a member of the Equality Caucus, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022.

Passage of this legislation is urgently needed because USPS incurred its fourteenth consecutive net annual loss in 2020, and even if USPS continues to default on mandated payments, it would likely run out of cash to fund its operations prior to 2024.

Madam Speaker, USPS funds the universal mail service it provides to nearly 159 million delivery points solely through the sale of postage.

USPS adds one million new delivery points every year, even as mail volume continues to fall.

This means USPS must deliver less and less mail to more and more places.

In addition, several congressional mandates imposed when mail volume was at its peak put USPS on the road to insolvency.

USPS is required to pre-fund the health care costs of its employees, regardless of whether they actually serve until retirement.

USPS is also required to fund its pension liabilities at a much higher level than the rest of the federal government.

To conserve cash, USPS has defaulted on retiree health care payments since 2012.

That is why the key reforms in the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 are so important.

First, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would require future Postal Service retirees, who have been paying into Medicare their entire careers, to enroll in Medicare.

Currently, roughly a quarter of postal retirees do not enroll in Medicare even though they are eligible, which means USPS is stuck paying far higher premiums than any other public or private sector employer.

By more closely integrating Medicare, USPS estimates it could save approximately $22.6 billion over 10 years.

Second, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would eliminate the requirement that USPS pre-fund retiree health benefits for all current and retired employees for 75 years in the future.

No private company or other federal government entity is required to comply with such a burdensome requirement and its elimination is estimated to drastically reduce its prefunding liability and allow USPS to save roughly $27 billion over 10 years.

Third, USPS Reform Act of 2021 would require USPS to develop a public-facing, online dashboard with national and local level service performance data updated each week to provide additional transparency and promote compliance with on-time delivery of mail.

Fourth, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would require USPS to deliver both mail and packages at least six days per week across an integrated network.

Finally, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would allow USPS to enter into agreements with State, local, and tribal governments to provide non-commercial property and services that provide enhanced value, do not detract from core postal services, and provide a reasonable contribution to Postal Service institutional costs.

In addition, the legislation contains several provisions that will improve the effectiveness of the Postal Service, including:

The expansion of special rates for local newspaper distribution to promote local news organizations;

A Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) review of cost attribution guidelines for different Postal Service products to ensure pricing accuracy and better accounting;

Increased funding autonomy and control for the Postal Regulatory Commission to increase its budgetary resources commensurate with its mission of regulating the Postal Service, and to shield the PRC from government shutdowns;

A study on operational inefficiencies in Postal Service flats and magazine processing;

Regular congressional reporting on Postal Service operations and financial performance to enable accountability of stated cost savings, revenue, and infrastructure investment goals;

Adjustments to the considerations USPS must make when deciding which mode of transportation to use to deliver mail in order to ensure greater consistency and reliability; and

The consolidation of the PRC's small Inspector General Office into the more robust Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

Madam Speaker, the Postal Service's unmatched network and Universal Service Obligation serves 159 million homes and businesses every day, processing and delivering an average of 430 million pieces of mail and packages per day.

In fact, USPS often delivers seven days a week due to demand and necessity.

This has been especially true during the Covid-19 pandemic as American homes, businesses and private shippers have relied on the Postal Service to meet their needs in these extraordinary times.

Madam Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021.

Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the House and the Committee on Homeland Security, and as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, and a member of the Equality Caucus, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022.

Passage of this legislation is urgently needed because USPS incurred its fourteenth consecutive net annual loss in 2020, and even if USPS continues to default on mandated payments, it would likely run out of cash to fund its operations prior to 2024.

Madam Speaker, USPS funds the universal mail service it provides to nearly 159 million delivery points solely through the sale of postage.

USPS adds one million new delivery points every year, even as mail volume continues to fall.

This means USPS must deliver less and less mail to more and more places.

In addition, several congressional mandates imposed when mail volume was at its peak put USPS on the road to insolvency.

USPS is required to pre-fund the health care costs of its employees, regardless of whether they actually serve until retirement.

USPS is also required to fund its pension liabilities at a much higher level than the rest of the federal government.

To conserve cash, USPS has defaulted on retiree health care payments since 2012.

That is why the key reforms in the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 are so important.

First, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would require future Postal Service retirees, who have been paying into Medicare their entire careers, to enroll in Medicare.

Currently, roughly a quarter of postal retirees do not enroll in Medicare even though they are eligible, which means USPS is stuck paying far higher premiums than any other public or private sector employer.

By more closely integrating Medicare, USPS estimates it could save approximately $22.6 billion over 10 years.

Second, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would eliminate the requirement that USPS pre-fund retiree health benefits for all current and retired employees for 75 years in the future.

No private company or other federal government entity is required to comply with such a burdensome requirement and its elimination is estimated to drastically reduce its prefunding liability and allow USPS to save roughly $27 billion over 10 years.

Third, USPS Reform Act of 2021 would require USPS to develop a public-facing, online dashboard with national and local level service performance data updated each week to provide additional transparency and promote compliance with on-time delivery of mail.

Fourth, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would require USPS to deliver both mail and packages at least six days per week across an integrated network.

Finally, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would allow USPS to enter into agreements with State, local, and tribal governments to provide non-commercial property and services that provide enhanced value, do not detract from core postal services, and provide a reasonable contribution to Postal Service institutional costs.

In addition, the legislation contains several provisions that will improve the effectiveness of the Postal Service, including:

1. The expansion of special rates for local newspaper distribution to promote local news organizations;

2. A Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) review of cost attribution guidelines for different Postal Service products to ensure pricing accuracy and better accounting;

3. Increased funding autonomy and control for the Postal Regulatory Commission to increase its budgetary resources commensurate with its mission of regulating the Postal Service, and to shield the PRC from government shutdowns;

4. A study on operational inefficiencies in Postal Service flats and magazine processing;

5. Regular congressional reporting on Postal Service operations and financial performance to enable accountability of stated cost savings, revenue, and infrastructure investment goals;

6. Adjustments to the considerations USPS must make when deciding which mode of transportation to use to deliver mail in order to ensure greater consistency and reliability; and

7. The consolidation of the PRC's small Inspector General Office into the more robust Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

Madam Speaker, the Postal Service's unmatched network and Universal Service Obligation serves 159 million homes and businesses every day, processing and delivering an average of 430 million pieces of mail and packages per day.

In fact, USPS often delivers seven days a week due to demand and necessity.

This has been especially true during the Covid-19 pandemic as American homes, businesses and private shippers have relied on the Postal Service to meet their needs in these extraordinary times.

Madam Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and my friend from Maryland for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the rule before us today makes in order H.R. 6617, a resolution to fund the Federal Government through March 11, 2022, and H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022.

I know that Appropriations Chairwoman DeLauro and Ranking Member Granger continue to engage in bipartisan discussions to find a path forward on a fiscal year 2022 funding package, and I want to thank them sincerely for those efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to commend Chairwoman Maloney and Ranking Member Comer for working together to put forth a truly bipartisan package to stabilize the financial health of the U.S. Postal Service and to improve efficiency and transparency for senior citizens and other Americans who rely every day on the Postal Service.

Mr. Speaker, for the past 3 years, Democratic leadership has written major legislation behind closed doors with little to zero input from House Republicans and, frankly, almost zero to little input from even the committees that, of course, the Democrats control. This has truly been a behind-closed-door process that I have seen for the last 3 years.

So, it is finally refreshing to see the House consider a bill that was the subject of a robust bipartisan negotiation and that actually went through the normal committee process for once. I want to say that I hope my colleagues across the aisle will make this the new normal, as it has previously been the norm.

Mr. Speaker, I also hope the majority will continue the bipartisanship that I have seen here today and continue to work with House Republicans to address the serious and pressing issues facing American families across this Nation.

For example, thanks to President Biden's open border policy, deadly fentanyl continues to just pour across our southern border, which is ravaging our communities, literally killing people in the heartland of this country.

For example, in 2021, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. topped 100,000 for the first time in a single year. In fact, fentanyl overdoses are reported to be the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45. It is past time that Congress acts to stem the tide of deadly fentanyl coming into our Nation

largely through our porous southern border. The fentanyl that comes-- let's just say it--is largely from China. It is time we address that issue.

At the same time, America is in the midst of a crime crisis like we haven't seen before, largely thanks to the Democrats' demonization of our police in what I view as one of the worst public policy positions I have ever seen, their push to actually defund police.

In 2021, at least 16 cities set new records in homicides. It is no wonder that 64 percent of Americans disapprove of how President Biden has handled crime. Congress should be working to address this crime surge and working to back the blue as well.

Finally, Americans continue to pay higher prices to do everything, from feed their families, heat their homes, and even fill up their gas tanks. Instead of doubling down on the failed far-left radical policies and out-of-control spending that actually caused this economic crisis, we should be reclaiming our energy independence. We should be eliminating burdensome regulations that hamstring our job creators. And we should be working to ensure American families keep more of their hard-earned paychecks.

I want to applaud the bipartisanship work that went into these bills. I want to applaud the Committee on Oversight and Reform and, of course, the Committee on Appropriations. But there are many other pressing issues that we can also be working on and should be working on for the benefit of American families.

I therefore urge my colleagues to oppose this rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa).

Mr. Speaker, while I respect my good friend and colleague, especially for what he has done in the private sector as well as the public sector, I do have some concerns.

I believe the Postal Service Reform Act is a strong bipartisan act, and I urge its passage. This measure will bring increased transparency. It will improve operations for senior citizens and Americans who use the Postal Service every day. It will help this institution that is critical, especially to rural America.

Again, I have deep respect and admiration for my friend from California. I just would urge passage of this, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Texas (Mr. Burgess), who is my good friend and fellow Rules Committee member.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Across this country, Democratic Governors and local officials have forced children to wear masks in schools. They have done this without real concern for the social developmental and emotional consequences of their authoritarian actions. These are the actions of petty tyrants, people who do not care about real science.

In stark contrast, House Republicans have been consistent this whole time. We have been fighting for the rights of America's children, and the American parent.

That is why if we defeat the previous question, I will personally offer an amendment to the rule to immediately consider H.R. 6619, the Unmask Our Kids Act. This legislation would block education agencies from receiving Federal funding unless schools are open for in-person learning and school mask mandates allow parents to opt out on behalf of their children.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the Record along with any extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. Speaker, here to explain the amendment is the legislation's author, Representative Ashley Hinson of Iowa, my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Hinson).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting that my good friend from Maryland would say the former President was ``reckless'' during the pandemic. This is a man who put together Operation Warp Speed, one of the quickest vaccination programs and one of the most effective the world has ever seen.

If we are talking about numbers, let's just talk about the numbers. More people have died in this pandemic under Joe Biden than ever died under President Trump. The numbers don't lie. During President Trump's first year with the pandemic, there were just over 390,000 deaths and, again, every death is tragic. But to say that President Trump was reckless, look at the numbers of Joe Biden. Since Joe Biden has taken office, over half a million people, 500,000-plus people have died.

So if President Trump was reckless, what word would you use to describe President Biden? I am interested to hear that. But there are two kinds of science; there is real science and there is political science. The risk of severe disease from COVID-19 to healthy children is very low. This is real science. The CDC data shows that 863 total pediatric deaths related to COVID-19 have occurred since the beginning of this pandemic, which is less than--and, again, for the party of science, this is real science--that is less than 0.001 percent of all COVID deaths in the United States. Many of these children had underlying medical conditions making them more vulnerable to severe COVID-19 than the average child, meaning that many of these children died with COVID not of COVID.

But again, that is real science, not political science. Talking about real science versus political science, I have got a photo of Stacey Abrams. This is political science, and here is why. Because the kids in this photo trying to learn, all of them are masked up. Statistically, these children are at very low risk of contracting COVID and even lower risk of dying from COVID. Again, the stats don't lie; 0.001 percent.

The real person in this photo who bears most of the risk is a governor-in-exile Stacey Abrams who is not wearing a mask. This photo is political science. If the mask wearing was reversed, that would be actual science.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. LaTurner), my good friend.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

My good friend from Maryland referenced Dr. Birx. Let's be honest: Dr. Birx is an unelected career bureaucrat who has been wrong repeatedly, just like Dr. Fauci has been wrong repeatedly.

Although my friend on the left might cite Dr. Birx, I can cite Johns Hopkins University, which just did a study. According to this massive study from Johns Hopkins University--not a bastion of conservative ideology, I might add--they found that lockdowns only reduced COVID mortality by 0.2 percent in the United States. In sum, lockdowns didn't work at all.

What is worse is that those on the left have failed to take into account that the lockdowns actually led to more deaths than they prevented, arguably, with drug overdose and suicide. But that is real science, not political science.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks) to talk about more real science.

Madam Speaker, look, for the record, I would bet on Dr. Miller-Meeks any day of the week over Dr. Birx. She believes in the real science, not the political theater and political science that the CDC and Dr. Birx speak of. A great example: The CDC never even studied the effects of school mask mandates before mandating masks in school.

Say what you will, but that is not how science works.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hudson), who is my good friend.

Madam Speaker, talking about more science, here is some more science: A North Carolina study, where my good friend resides, conducted before vaccines were available, found that not a single case of student-to-teacher transmission occurred when 90,000 students were in school. That is the real science.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time as I am prepared to close.

Madam Speaker, thanks to President Biden and thanks to House Democrats and their far left, radical policies, Americans are currently facing a border crisis, a crime crisis, and an economic crisis.

Despite a lack of scientific evidence to support masks in schools, Democratic Governors, officials, unelected bureaucrats, petty tyrants, have mandated the use of masks in schools, damaging the educational and social development of our students. It is past time that Democrats stop prioritizing their woke agenda and work with Republicans to address these and other pressing issues facing American families today.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question; I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the rule; and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, Americans hold the United States Postal Service in extremely high regard, and that is for good reason. All rely on it for our paychecks, medications, news, magazines, and correspondence with loved ones. And now, more than ever, Americans enjoy the conveniences of e-commerce no matter where they live in this great Nation.

The United States Postal Service is truly one of our prized national assets. But, as we know, the Postal Service has faced financial trouble for many years. Service delays stemming from an unreliable and outdated delivery network, a drastic historical decrease in mail revenue, and a sustained surge in labor-intensive packages, have all contributed to the organization's struggles.

The rise and dominance of the internet has completely changed the way people shop, pay bills, and generally communicate. It has changed in ways that could not have even been envisioned in the 1970s, when Congress established today's independently operated Postal Service.

We need to face the music. The days of letters alone driving the Postal Service's revenue are not coming back. And with this national pandemic, we have seen what happens when the Postal Service is stressed to its operational limits.

The dual challenges of workforce shortages and a surge in package volume across its delivery network plainly exposed the inability for the Postal Service to adapt to modern challenges.

I stand here today, after more than a year of bipartisan work with my colleague, Chairwoman Maloney, to call for the House to pass the bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act of 2022. This targeted bill addresses the immediate needs of the Postal Service to help it succeed into the 21st century.

H.R. 3076 bolsters Postal Service-led operational reforms that are already showing success with better revenue and delivery performance.

For example, the Postal Service saw one of the busiest holiday seasons ever this past year. And even this current White House could not ignore the fact that nearly 99 percent of consumers received their packages on time or with minimal delays.

This was done under the leadership of Postmaster General DeJoy, and in the face of constant challenges brought about by the pandemic and the current political climate.

Coupled with the Postmaster General's ambitious and comprehensive 10- year reform plan are two legislative requests impacting the Postal Service's ability to operate profitably in the years to come.

First, the well-intentioned 2006 legislative requirement that the Postal Service prefund the retiree health benefits of all future potential costs has proven unworkable and counterproductive.

H.R. 3076 repeals this requirement, while continuing to require annual payments for what is owed to postal retirees. This helps alleviate immediate financial stresses, while still protecting the workforce's earned retirement health benefits.

Secondly, the Postmaster General has sought legislation to seamlessly transition the postal workforce into Medicare upon retirement, rather than continuing as the primary payer for retiree health benefits.

Congress has told the Postal Service it has to act like a business, and this is

not something businesses do. Businesses offer secondary coverage to wrap-around Medicare benefits, and that is what Congress should allow the Postal Service to do as well. This is sensible policy in keeping with the practices of private-sector businesses.

Postal Service retirees have been paying into Medicare their entire careers and, next to the Federal Government itself, the Postal Service is the largest contributor to the Medicare Trust Fund in the Nation.

Together, these two legislative provisions requested by Postmaster General DeJoy are projected to help the Postal Service break even in the coming years.

However, I have made it clear that Republicans need to see solutions that would also allow the Postal Service to fundamentally improve its business model. Our reform bill is designed around the Postal Service's current operational reform plans.

Additionally, our bill makes sure Congress has key oversight tools. For instance, our bill establishes a public-facing, online dashboard with full local mail delivery performance data. This will provide necessary transparency into the on-time delivery of mail, and equip every House Member to conduct oversight of mail performance in their local communities.

Congress should not be caught off guard as we were in early 2020 as the pandemic accelerated performance problems in real time.

My colleagues should also consider what this targeted reform bill does not do. Our legislation does not include draconian cuts to service delivery, such as post office closures, or decreasing delivery to residences.

Our bill keeps the needs of rural Postal Service customers front and center. For instance, the bill codifies the 6-day delivery of mail and packages, which provides assurance to businesses and rural communities alike.

And importantly, our reform bill does all of this without taking the easy approach of a bailout or increasing the budget. In fact, the bill is projected to save over a billion dollars of tax funds over the next decade, over a billion dollars.

Chairwoman Maloney and I have worked closely on receiving the input from the Postal Service and industry groups large and small, and have come to an agreement that we believe will have a real impact. I am very proud of this product, this bipartisan work.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), who has worked steadfastly and been on board and had significant input in this bill from day one.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis), the ranking member of the House Administration Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman), who also serves as ranking subcommittee member on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bacon).

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Armstrong), who has been a strong supporter of reform from day one.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the dean of the House.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Malliotakis).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Tenney).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Garbarino).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Rouzer).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick).

Madam Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining?

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I thank my House colleagues for their heartfelt remarks today.

Madam Speaker, America's most esteemed institution, the United States Postal Service, is in trouble. Since the 1970s legislative reform, Congress has expected the Postal Service to operate as an independent and self-sufficient organization. However, for years, the Postal Service has spent far more than it has brought in, and last year alone lost over $9 billion. Many of these challenges are beyond the control of prior Postal Service leadership.

The U.S. Congress has legally obligated the Postal Service to provide universal mail service delivery. Today, that means delivery to over 160 million addresses. This is a massive and expensive undertaking that cannot be glossed over. Additionally, as our Nation's population and economy continues to grow, so will the Postal Service's ever-increasing expenses.

H.R. 3076 does not change this universal service obligation, but we risk having that difficult national conversation if we do nothing. The price for inaction is a Postal Service that will eventually require drastic service reductions, especially in rural, remote parts of America, or continual taxpayer-funded bailouts, which no conservative and no taxpayer should want. Neither are desirable options.

We have an opportunity to pass targeted legislation to relieve the Postal Service of certain financial hardships and bolster its ambitious structure reform initiatives.

This moment, with a bipartisan bill and bold Postal Service leadership at the helm, may not be easily replicated in future years. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3036.

Madam Speaker, before I yield back, I would be remiss if I didn't say my grandmother spent her whole career as a rural mail carrier. Her name was Maitred Witcher, and she had Route 1 in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee. I grew up with an appreciation for our mail carriers and I appreciate all the hardworking employees of the U.S. Postal Service.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the amendment.

Madam Speaker, as we have worked together on the Postal Service Reform Act over the past year, Chairwoman Maloney and I strove to fully incorporate the legislative feedback we received from the relevant agencies. This manager's amendment contains necessary technical fixes to ensure the bill's requirements are efficiently and effectively implemented.

For instance, it ensures that the U.S. Postal Service, and not the American taxpayer, fully cover the implementation costs of the Office of Personnel Management, Social Security Administration, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Madam Speaker, I thank the chairwoman and the Committee on Oversight and Reform staff for working diligently with me to make sure this bill is done right.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.