Pascrell Supports Postal Reinvigoration

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) today voted in favor of H.R. 2382, the USPS Fairness Act, vital legislation to finally repeal the crippling health care prefunding requirement that is bankrupting the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The bill passed the House 309-to-106 and now heads to the Senate for its consideration.

“Since 2007, America’s post offices have been slowly strangled by an outrageous obligation that has single-handedly hindered the post and hastened its ability to function at the high levels our nation deserves,” said Rep. Pascrell, a lifelong supporter of the post office and postal workers. “That the House came together in an overwhelming vote to remove that anchor and strengthen the USPS back to health speaks to the post office’s sacred status as America’s most trusted government institution. I am convinced it will remain a keystone part of our daily life for generations to come, by sustaining its vibrant workforce and expanding its services to the nation, such as postal banking. Today we took perhaps the most important step to realizing that future. The Senate should pass this legislation without haste.”

Rep. Pascrell is one of the strongest supporters of the United States Postal Service in Congress and has loudly called for protecting the post office from attacks. In a well-received April 2019 essay in Washington Monthly, Pascrell outlined the history of the post, the origins of its decay, and his remedies to undue decades of institutional damage. Foremost among them is the creation of postal banking across the nation. Pascrell is also an early cosponsor of H.R. 2382. In June 2019, the House of Representatives passed Pascrell’s bipartisan amendment allocating $1 million to begin funding a postal banking system. Late last year, Reps. Pascrell and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) wrote to the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the Postmaster General of the USPS in reaction to the announcement that the Federal Reserve is working to expand fast-payment U.S. infrastructure. In their letter, the members called on the Federal Reserve and USPS to expand postal banking services across the United States.

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