Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia Votes to Save the U.S. Postal Service and the Right to Vote From the Trump Administration’s Assaults

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29) joined 256 Democratic and Republican colleagues to pass the Delivering for America Act, which would address the Trump administration's assault on the U.S. Postal Service. This bill would require the Postal Service to return to the Postal Service operations and levels of service that were in place on January 1, 2020, throughout the duration of the coronavirus public health emergency and requires all election mail to be treated as First-Class mail. It also provides $25 billion in critical funding for the Postal Service – the same level of funding recommended by the USPS Board of Governors, which is composed of President Trump appointees.

The vote comes at the same time as newly uncovered internal Postal Service documents warning Postmaster General DeJoy about steep declines and increasing delays nationwide over the last two months, delays that are far worse than originally believed.

Yet despite the urgent need for action, too many Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration have repeatedly claimed that there are "no delays" with the mail and "no data," suggesting the delays are no more than "conspiracy theories."

"People in the Houston region and all across America depend on the U.S. Postal Service for critical services, including the delivery of life-saving prescriptions, Social Security benefits, food stamps, paychecks, tax returns, and ballots," said Congresswoman Garcia. "Yet, the Trump Administration and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy have waged a dangerous campaign to degrade postal operations and delay mail delivery in the middle of a pandemic and just months before a Presidential election.

These are actions are not only a threat to our democracy, but it's also hurting working people and families across the country that depend on the Postal Service and it is jeopardizing the livelihoods of postal workers and letter carriers across the country. Congresswoman Garcia added, "It is therefore in the name of our democracy and Texas veterans, seniors, families, and small businesses who depend on the Post Office that I voted in favor of the Delivering for America Act."

The Delivering for America Act would prohibit:

• Any change that would generally affect service on a nationwide or substantially nationwide basis;
• Any revision of existing service standards;
• Closing, consolidating or reducing the hours of any post office or postal facility;
• Any prohibition on paying overtime to Postal Service officers or employees;
• Any change that would prevent the Postal Service from meeting its service standards or cause a decline in measurements of performance relative to those standards; and
• Any change that would have the effect of delaying mail or increasing the volume of undelivered mail.

This legislation will also:

• Include $25 billion requested by the Postal Service and supported unanimously and on a bipartisan basis by the Trump-appointed Postal Board of Governors;
• Require the Postal Service to treat all official election mail as First-Class mail;
• Prohibit the removal, decommissioning or other stoppages of mail sorting machines, other than for routine maintenance;
• Prohibit the removal of mailboxes; and
• Explicitly reverse any changes already implemented to the operations or policies of the Postal Service that delay mail delivery.

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Congresswoman Sylvia R. Garcia was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2018, becoming the first Latina ever to represent the Texas 29th Congressional District. She serves on the House Judiciary and Financial Services Committees.