Press Release

Congressman Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-07) today voted to help pass the bipartisan H.R. 8015, the Delivering for America Act which protects and strengthens the U.S. Postal Service and the right to vote. The Delivering for America Act prohibits the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or level of service it had in place on January 1, 2020, and provides $25 billion in critical funding to support the Postal Service.

"The United States Postal Service is a pillar of our democracy, providing critical services for the American people. The Postal Service delivers life-saving medicine to our seniors and veterans, paychecks to workers, tax refunds to millions, and absentee ballots to voters," said Rep. Ami Bera. "The new policies instituted by the Trump Administration have dramatically increased delays and undelivered mails, while also threatening serious delays to election mail, potentially disenfranchising millions of voters. Americans across the country and in California's 7^th Congressional District have made their voices clear over the past few weeks– any attempt to delay mail and undermine our election is unacceptable. That's why I am proud to vote today to help pass the Delivering for America Act to undo the damage and ensure the Postal Service has the resources necessary to fulfill its vital role at this pivotal moment, and I will fight any future attempt at sabotaging the USPS."

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 to the Postal Service;
• Require the Postal Service to treat all official election mail as First-Class mail;
• Prohibit the removal, decommissioning or other stoppage 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.

Rep. Bera and Rep. Gerry Connolly, Chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee Government Operations Subcommittee sent a letter to USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on August 21 demanding he ensure the timely and accurate delivery of mail-order prescriptions for our nation's veterans. The letter was co-signed by 65 additional Members of Congress.