[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 65 (Thursday, April 15, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H1835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   POSTAL NONBANK FINANCIAL SERVICES

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the House 
Appropriations Committee, I am very honored to be co-leading efforts to 
provide $6 million for postal nonbank financial services in a pilot 
program through the U.S. Postal Service.
  I am thankful to my House colleagues, Congressman Bill Pascrell and 
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and our friends in the Senate 
for joining our effort.
  The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that many Americans are left 
behind by Wall Street bankers.
  As unemployment soared in 2020, the U.S. Congress swiftly provided 
relief through economic stimulus payments, unemployment insurance, and 
so much more to America's workers, yet over 63 million Americans, 
including many who are impoverished, lacked the most basic banking 
services to access these funds and to conduct the simplest financial 
transactions. Like, for example, paying a utility bill.
  Yes, according to the FDIC, some 63 million adults are considered 
underbanked in urban, suburban, and rural communities across our 
Nation.
  In the last Congress, Congressman Pascrell and I successfully led a 
Financial Services amendment to the FY21 Appropriations bill to include 
$2 million for postal financial services, and we look forward to 
reintroducing our bill and to getting it passed in both Chambers this 
year.

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