Press Releases

Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today voted in support of the Delivering for America Act, which passed the House of Representatives 257-150. The critical legislation will provide the United States Postal Service (USPS) with $25 billion in emergency appropriations, require USPS to treat election mail as First Class mail, and explicitly reverse the Trump Administration’s sabotage of mail delivery under Postmaster Louis DeJoy.

“The Delivering for America Act is the third bill that the House has sent to the Senate to shore up the finances of the Post Office and ensure Americans can vote safely by mail during this pandemic. It’s beyond time that Senator McConnell allow a vote on legislation to keep this vital agency afloat,” said Congresswoman Pingree. “The Senate’s lack of urgency to reverse the President’s stated goal of slowing down mail service is causing dangerous delays of medication, packages, paychecks, and other critical needs in rural states like Maine. 

“The Delivering for America Act will restore Americans’ confidence that their mail-in ballots will be securely counted despite the sabotage of mail delivery under Postmaster DeJoy’s leadership,” Pingree continued. “This bill will not only require the Postal Service to treat mail-in ballots as First Class mail, it will reverse Postmaster DeJoy’s disastrous changes at the agency, which have resulted in the removal and destruction of mail sorting machines in Maine and around the country.” 

This week, Congresswoman Pingree and 90 Democrats demanded that the USPS Board of Governors remove Postmaster DeJoy from his position. In their letter to the board, the members cited destructive changes DeJoy has implemented as well as his several conflict of interests with investments in USPS competitors and contractors.

In February, the US House overwhelmingly passed a bill repealing the 2006 law requiring USPS to prefund all its employees’ health care at least 50 years into the future -- with 87 Republicans voting in support of repeal. The McConnell Senate has been blocking H.R.2382 for over six months.

In May, Congresswoman Pingree voted for the Heroes Act which would provide $25 billion in funding for the Post Office. On August 12, Pingree sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and 173 other House Democrats calling for the reversal of policies that have worsened the crisis facing the Postal Service and directly caused a dramatic increase in delayed and undelivered mail. 

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