[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6441 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6441
To require the Postmaster General update the systems of the Postal
Service to accurately recognize and preserve address data, including
the proper use of linguistic characters and place names, in Puerto
Rico, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 4, 2025
Mr. Hernandez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Postmaster General update the systems of the Postal
Service to accurately recognize and preserve address data, including
the proper use of linguistic characters and place names, in Puerto
Rico, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Puerto Rico Postal Equity Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The accurate identification, formatting, and
integration of physical addresses are essential to the
efficient operation of the United States Postal Service, the
reliability of mail delivery, the facilitation of e-commerce,
and the equitable distribution of Federal programs and
services.
(2) Historical and structural complexities in Puerto Rico's
local addressing conventions create inconsistencies between
locally assigned addresses and those recognized by the United
States Postal Service, Federal agencies, and major private
platforms, resulting in recurring delivery and validation
failures.
(3) Such inconsistencies include the omission or alteration
of diacritical marks recognized in Spanish-language place
names, street names, and surnames, which can lead to
misidentification, delivery errors, and data mismatches in
official records.
(4) The preservation of accurate orthography and culturally
specific characters in Federal data systems is essential to
ensuring the integrity of official records, compliance with
civil rights and language access standards, and the protection
of identity and property rights.
(5) Strengthened coordination between the United States
Postal Service and the Department of Commerce, including the
Census Bureau, would enhance national data accuracy, support
economic development, and advance equity across Puerto Rico by
improving how the United States Postal Service identifies and
resolves recurrent address recognition and delivery issues in
Puerto Rico.
SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO ACCURACY OF PUERTO RICO ADDRESS DATA.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Postmaster General shall develop and
implement improvements to the systems of the United States Postal
Service to improve the accuracy and recognition of addresses in Puerto
Rico, including--
(1) using existing operational indicators of the United
States Postal Service, including Undeliverable-As-Addressed
codes, mail delivery exception records, address quality data
from the address management system of the United States Postal
Service, delivery point validation results, consumer complaint
information, and address validation outcomes data from the
websites of the United States Postal Service, to identify
locations in Puerto Rico with persistent address recognition or
mail delivery issues;
(2) updating the address records, routing information, and
validation tables of the United States Postal Service for the
locations identified under subsection (1);
(3) revising the relevant systems of the United States
Postal Service, including address matching, address validation,
and mail and delivery routing systems, to support the use of
diacritical marks and other address elements used in Puerto
Rico for addresses in Puerto Rico; and
(4) taking such other actions as determined appropriate by
the Postmaster General based on the relevant data to improve
the recognition by the systems of the United States Postal
Service of and the proper delivery of mail to properly assigned
addresses in Puerto Rico.
(b) Consultation.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Postmaster
General shall consult with the Bureau of the Census, including the
Census Open Innovation Lab, the Puerto Rico Planning Board established
by Puerto Rico Act 75-1975 (23 L.P.R.A. 62 et seq.), and appropriate
local governments in Puerto Rico, to obtain information required to
carry out such subsection.
(c) Reporting.--Not later than one year after enactment of this
Act, and annually thereafter for three years, the Postmaster General
shall submit to Congress a report detailing--
(1) the actions taken under this section;
(2) the progress of the United States Postal Service in
improving the recognition of and accuracy of delivery to
addresses in Puerto Rico; and
(3) any barriers to carrying out subsection (a) and
recommendations for legislative or administrative action to
address such barriers.
(d) Diacritical Mark Defined.--In this Act, the term ``diacritical
mark'' means any accent, tilde, or other orthographic sign used by the
Spanish language to indicate pronunciation or meaning in proper nouns
and place names within Puerto Rico.
SEC. 4. CUTGO COMPLIANCE.
No additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this Act. The Postmaster General shall carry out this Act using
amounts otherwise appropriated or made available to United States
Postal Service.
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