I want to tell you about some of the federal issues I've been working on throughout August.
I continue to gather bipartisan support among my colleagues for the Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act (PRIME Act).
We are now up to 9 sponsors in the United States Senate, and 55 sponsors in the House of Representatives. Momentum for the PRIME Act continues to build!
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed just how vulnerable meat supply lines are to disruption. The PRIME Act addresses this by easing requirements currently placed on local processors by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). By reducing the USDA's regulatory burden on producers, more quality meat will become available for intrastate consumers.
On a separate subject, you might have heard unfounded rumors that the United States Postal Service (USPS) is intentionally slowing mail delivery so mail-in ballots will be delayed during this election. This is untrue.
The media has pointed to recent pictures of blue drop off boxes being removed, but under President Obama 14,000 of these boxes were removed or relocated in the normal course of business.
Also, some have claimed that the Post Office will run out of cash before the election. While it’s true that the Post Office has lost money every year since 2007, it has over 12 billion dollars of cash on hand and a 10 billion dollar line of credit available. Reforms do need to be made at the Post Office to keep it viable in the long term, but there is no cash crisis, and the Post Office is funded until the fall of next year.
Finally, the news has reported that sorting machines have been moved out of some Post Office buildings. The reality is these unused envelope sorting machines were taking up space that was needed for other operations, such as parcel delivery.
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform recently held a hearing on these unfounded rumors, and it provided me with an opportunity to ask questions directly to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and to the Chairman of the USPS Board of Governors, Robert Duncan. I encourage you to listen to my questions and to the answers provided by the witnesses.