Washington D.C. - Today Congressman Tom Emmer (MN-06) issued the following statement regarding his vote on H.R. 8015: 

"Today, we could have taken a non-partisan step towards supporting the Postal Service and all Americans suffering under this outbreak. Our post office workers perform a constitutional and selfless service to their fellow citizens. Especially now as essential workers, they sacrifice for their fellow Americans every day. Their commitment to our country does not deserve to be used to advance partisan talking points before an election. Speaker Pelosi’s decision to politicize the Post Office while continuing to ignore the millions of Americans in need of additional COVID relief is nothing short of an abdication of leadership.

I have long supported our postal service and will continue to do so, but today’s vote does nothing to improve the long-term solvency of the USPS. There are non-partisan solutions to supporting the Postal Service and ensuring it thrives for generations to come. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi is attempting to once again mislead the American people to fit her own agenda and put undue stress on our postal workers and letter carriers."

Background: 

On Tuesday, August 18th, Post Master General Louis DeJoy announced that no changes to postal operations would take place before the November elections. The CARES Act included $10 billion in additional lending authority which has not yet been utilized.

H.R. 8015 does not contain any structural reforms to improve the long-term operations of the Post Office.

Congressman Emmer is a cosponsor of the USPS Fairness Act, which helps ensure the long-term financial stability of the USPS by repealing the requirement to pre-fund future retirement benefits for its employees. Repealing this mandate allows the Postal Service to prioritize efficient operations and would enable new services to serve every American. He is also a cosponsor of H.Res. 54, which expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its 6-day mail delivery service.

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