[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 9, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S581-S582]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                             Postal Reform

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, yesterday, by a margin--a large margin--
of 342 to 92, Congress took the first steps toward creating the most 
important upgrade to our post office in decades by passing a bipartisan 
reform package that has been years in the making.
  With an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote in the House, it is my 
intention for the Senate to quickly take up and pass this bipartisan, 
bicameral Postal reform bill. We hope to take action here on the floor 
and pass the bill before we go to the Presidents Day recess.
  The post office is, quite simply, one of the most important 
institutions of American life. Every day, tens of millions of 
Americans, veterans, small businesses, people living in rural 
communities, seniors rely on the Postal Service for their medicines and 
prescriptions, for getting essential goods, for voting, for 
correspondence, for their livelihoods, and to get close to one another 
on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries and things like 
that.
  But, nevertheless, our Postal Service has needed reform for over a 
decade. Its budgets are severely strained, its delivery services are 
overwhelmed, and the

[[Page S582]]

disruptions unleashed by the internet have made it harder for it to 
meet its obligations to the American people and to its own employees.
  Every one of us has heard objections about letters arriving far too 
late. In many instances, whether they be checks that people depend on 
for their livelihoods or prescription drugs or whatever, these 
complaints are growing and growing and growing.
  The bipartisan Postal reform bill offers a much needed reset. It will 
guarantee delivery services continue 6 days a week; it will put the 
post office on a path back towards solvency; and it will ensure that we 
take care of our dedicated Postal workers while also saving the post 
office over $50 billion.
  Let me summarize again. If this legislation is passed, it would 
ensure continued 6-day delivery service, make deliveries more efficient 
and timely, and will put the post office on a path to stability.
  I want to recognize my colleagues who have made it possible for this 
legislation to move forward. First, I thank my friend and colleague 
Senator Peters, chairman of the Homeland Security and Government 
Affairs Committee, for his leadership in bringing this bill together.
  I also want to thank Ranking Member Portman for working across the 
aisle on this commonsense reform bill.
  And I want to thank all my House colleagues who worked assiduously 
for a long, long time pushing for portal reform. Both the chair and the 
ranking member of the relevant committees supported the bill on the 
floor of the House yesterday.
  I have always said Democrats will work on a bipartisan basis whenever 
we can pass commonsense legislation that will improve the lives of the 
American people.

  Last year, bipartisan cooperation helped clear the way for such 
things as the historic Anti-Asian Hate Crimes bill, a much needed 
competition bill, and our bipartisan infrastructure package.
  This work period alone, we have already made great progress on 
bipartisan priorities, like ending forced arbitration for sexual 
harassment and assault. As I have mentioned, we will soon act on the 
post office.
  And I expect both sides will support passage of the short-term CR 
that will keep the Federal Government open before next week's deadline.
  I want to thank the appropriators from both sides of the aisle for 
working in good faith, and I am optimistic that soon they will arrive 
at an agreement for an omnibus package, which is far more preferable to 
the alternative of a yearlong CR.
  We are getting very, very close to coming to an agreement on top-line 
numbers, and as I said, I am more optimistic than I have been in a very 
long time that we will get an omnibus bill done for government spending 
for the rest of the year.
  So all these priorities--forced arbitration, Postal reform, and 
government funding--are bipartisan items that I expect the Senate will 
act on before the recess.
  As I have always said from my first day as majority leader, we will 
work in a bipartisan way whenever we can. We did it in our first year 
with things like the Anti-Asian hate crimes legislation, the 
competition bill, and the bipartisan infrastructure package. And these 
2 weeks now represent a productive continuation of that commitment.
  So on this issue, I am optimistic that very soon we will see the 
first major reform of America's Postal system in decades. It will be a 
win for our dedicated Postal workers and for the American people who 
rely on the post office every single day.