The United States House of Representatives on Saturday passed a bill that would prohibit the United States Postal Service (USPS) from implementing any operational changes until next year.
The 257-150 vote came in a special session called last Sunday by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) supported the legislation, while the six Republicans in Alabama’s House delegation voted against the measure.
U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (AL-05) on Friday had spoken out strongly against the bill, as reported by Yellowhammer News. He pointed out that the Trump administration had already given the Postal Service a $10 billion loan as part of the CARES Act recently and that the USPS has been operating in the red consistently since 2006.
“With lies and propaganda, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Socialist Democrats seek to deceive America into believing President Trump somehow undermines the November election by opposing yet another $25 billion Postal Service bailout,” Brooks said in a statement.
After the Saturday vote, U.S. Reps. Bradley Byrne (AL-01), Mike Rogers (AL-03) and Gary Palmer (AL-06) released statements denouncing the Pelosi-led bill, which is expected to be dead-on-arrival in the Senate.
Palmer stated, “The Democrats have invented this crisis to attack the President.”
“The USPS has $14 billion in current funds which are sufficient to maintain operations well into next year,” he continued. “The CARES Act also included $10 billion that is available should the USPS need additional funds. Together that amounts to $24 billion that is immediately available to the USPS. Yet, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have created a conspiratorial crisis out of thin air and are demanding American taxpayers fork over another $25 billion. This is a farce, another attempt to dupe Americans with an election hoax, only this time, instead of Russia, it is the USPS.”
Like Brooks the day previous, Palmer advised that the Postal Service’s current issues began several years ago.
“USPS has been implementing badly needed reforms for years,” Palmer added. “Yet, Pelosi and the Democrats are intentionally misleading people to believe that operational changes at the USPS have just begun. That is a lie. Nonetheless, USPS officials have confirmed that the operational changes, some of which were agreed to by Democrat members, have already been halted until after the elections. Plus, the fact that Pelosi has called Congress into session to pass a bill with another $25 billion for the USPS, before having a committee hearing or markup on the bill is another example of how dysfunctional the House has become under her leadership. Instead of helping the USPS, by bypassing the committee process where Democrats and Republicans work together to implement needed reforms, Pelosi is actually setting the USPS back and making it harder to sustain itself in carrying out its mission without more massive bailouts from the taxpayer.”
“Every American should take note that Speaker Pelosi has called Congress back into session to perpetuate a conspiracy theory to discredit the President that she and her Democrat colleagues have fabricated, but she won’t call a session to work on an economic recovery strategy and relief for struggling Americans,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Sewell tweeted her support for the bill.
Today I am proud to stand with nearly 8,000 Alabamians employed by @USPS who work tirelessly to deliver us a critical service enshrined in our Constitution. The Delivering for America Act will support these frontline workers & protect mail-in voting. #DontMessWithUSPS pic.twitter.com/BHZmWPQTki
— Rep. Terri A. Sewell (@RepTerriSewell) August 22, 2020
A release from Rogers’ office denounced the bill as the “USPS Conspiracy Act.”
“Today Nancy Pelosi called back the House of Representatives to vote on a fake emergency. House Democrats have continued to push a conspiracy theory about the United States Postal Service, saying it can’t handle November’s mail-in ballots. Not only is this not true, it’s dangerous rhetoric that threatens the security of our elections,” Rogers said.
“Instead of a vote on this made up crisis, Speaker Pelosi should be negotiating with President Trump to bring millions of hardworking Americans relief,” he concluded.
Similarly, a release from Byrne’s office decried “House Democrats’ alarmist U.S. Postal Service bill designed to sow discord before the November election.” Byrne had also penned an op-ed against the legislation earlier in the week.
“Speaker Pelosi has reached a new low for political posturing in a Congress that will be forever known for Democrats’ total and complete focus on defeating Donald Trump, not solving problems for the American people,” Byrne lamented. “Today’s bill is in response to an imagined crisis that would undo changes at the Post Office that have already been undone and spend money the Post Office does not even need right now.”
“Instead of going through the proper committee processes and actually making reforms to the bloated, antiquated Postal Service, Speaker Pelosi is throwing more taxpayer money at her allies and once again seeking to undermine President Trump. The American people deserve better than a House of Representatives that totally abdicates its responsibility to govern in order to seek more political power,” the Southwest Alabama congressman continued.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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