Investing in A New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the postal provisions in H.R. 2 and have offered an amendment to strike them from the bill.

As ranking member of the Subcommittee on Government Operations of the Oversight and Reform Committee, I was very much disappointed that we were not consulted on these provisions.

My colleagues from the Oversight and Reform Committee and I have been closely following the financial health of the Postal Service, and we receive, in fact, weekly updates on mail volume, revenue, and cash on hand. The numbers are very clear, what we have received. The $25 billion postal bailout provided in H.R. 2 is just simply premature. We don't need to go there at this point.

A few weeks ago, I asked the Postmaster General to revise the initial estimates for the direct impact from the pandemic, which included this $25 billion for modernization. The reality is that, over the last several months, the revenue trends no longer support the Postal Service's multibillion-dollar bailout request. This is because there are much better numbers and performance that has been driven by package volume.

Let me give you some examples.

During the first 11 weeks of the pandemic, the Postal Service earned $330 million more in revenue than this same time last year. The Postal Service also improved its amount of cash on hand by at least $600 million. And as of June 4, they had $13.2 billion in cash.

In addition, while negotiations with the Treasury Department are still ongoing, the Postal Service has yet to even tap into the $10 billion in lending that was authorized by Congress in the CARES Act.

A long-term plan to turn the Postal Service around is also being developed. My colleagues from the Oversight and Reform Committee and I have called for a 10-year business plan to improve the Postal Service's business model.

And given the start of the new Postmaster General's term, we are hopeful that an updated plan that outlines specific reforms to put the Postal Service on firm financial footing is going to happen.

But absent revised estimates and a business plan, it is unclear what the true needs of the Postal Service are. I will just say that the USPS was designed to be self-sufficient, a self-sufficient entity. The only way of dealing with that issue is by long-term legislative reform, not a bailout. That is the only way to do it.

So we cannot continue throwing taxpayer money away and particularly adding green new deals. I ask my colleagues to support this amendment.

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