Congressman Cleaver Votes to Strengthen USPS and Ensure Reliable, On-Time Mail Service for Missourians

February 10, 2022

(Washington, D.C.) – This week, U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) voted in favor of H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act, which will improve mail delivery across Missouri and ensure the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) remains on solid financial footing for years to come. The legislation would create new sources of revenue, increase performance transparency, and save billions in taxpayer dollars while enabling the USPS to resume delivering dependable, on-time mail service to Missourians who rely on the Postal Service to receive paychecks, lifesaving medications, tax returns, and other items. The bill passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support by a vote of 342-92 and will now go to the U.S. Senate for a vote.

"Since the inception of our union, the U.S. Postal Service has been a thread that ties together communities across the nation, allowing families to stay connected and helping businesses to engage in commerce," said Congressman Cleaver. "Over the past two years, we've seen how reliant communities remain on the USPS to deliver lifesaving medication, hard-earned paychecks, and other important items at a reasonable price and timely fashion. However, decades of underinvestment and irrational financial requirements have undermined this extremely popular institution. With the passage of the Postal Service Reform Act, we are making bipartisan, common sense reforms that will strengthen local post offices, support our postal workers, and ensure the USPS is transparent in the way it operates on behalf of the American taxpayers."

The Postal Service Reform Act enacts several overdue changes to address financial challenges, improve mail delivery, and support postal workers, including:

Welcoming all future retirees into Medicare, delivering quality health care to our committed public servants while saving the Postal Service $22.6 billion over the next decade;
Repealing a burdensome requirement forcing the Postal Service to prefund retirees' health care 75 years in advance—a standard not held to any other government agency—which will save $27 billion over the next decade;
Promoting reliable delivery and transparency through a public-facing, online dashboard featuring national and local level service performance data; • Codifying the Postal Service's longtime tradition of delivering mail and packages six days per week; and
Allowing the Postal Service to raise additional revenues by offering non-commercial property and services to state, local, and tribal governments.

"Post offices have been the centerpiece of communities throughout the United States for centuries, and it is critical that Congress make the changes necessary to get this important institution back to running with the efficiency and affordability Americans are accustomed to," said Congressman Cleaver. "That is what the Postal Service Reform Act will do, and that is why I was proud to support this bipartisan piece of legislation."

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, North Kansas City, Gladstone, Claycomo, and all of Ray, Lafayette, and Saline Counties. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee; Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance; member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress; member of the Committee on Homeland Security; and a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. A high-resolution photo of Congressman Cleaver is available here.