Congresswoman Xochitl Torres Small, NM-02, released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the USPS Fairness Act with significant bipartisan support on the evening of February 5, 2020:
Torres Small served as one of the lead sponsors of the legislation alongside her colleagues Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR-4), Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1) and Tom Reed (R-NY-23). The USPS Fairness Act will repeal the mandate for the United States Postal Service to prefund future retiree health benefits.
“Since 2006, the prefunding mandate has wreaked havoc on USPS’s finances, costing the agency $5.4 billion each year. I represent one of the most rural districts in the nation. In southern New Mexico, post offices and postal workers are an integral part of our communities, connecting businesses to customers, pharmacies to patients, and family and friends spread across this vast country. Congress is responsible for creating the prefunding crisis, and I am pleased the House of Representatives took the first step to solve it. I ask that the Senate take the next step with us,” said Torres Small.
Local postal worker representatives applauded Rep. Torres Small for her leadership and swift action to resolve an issue causing financial strain for the United States Postal Service and the communities they serve. No other government agency or private business is plagued with a similar mandate.
“The New Mexico members of the National Association of Postal Supervisors appreciate Rep. Torres Small’s support of strengthening the Postal Service’s fiscal stability, evidenced by her leadership with H.R. 2382, legislation to repeal the discriminatory mandate to prefund future retiree health benefits. In addition, we commend her steadfast opposition to ill-advised efforts to privatize the cherished government agency,” said Frank Gallegos, New Mexico National Association of Postal Supervisors (N.A.P.S.) Branch 295