Ranking Member Hoyer Statement at the Oversight Hearing for the United States Postal Service

Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD-5), Ranking Member of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's oversight hearing on the United States Postal Service:

-As Prepared For Delivery-

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

That’s the unofficial motto of the Postal Service.

It reflects not only the dedication of our postal workers, but also our founders’ belief that an independent, public Postal Service that can guarantee mail delivery to every address in America is essential to our democracy and our economy.

That is still true today.

Americans count on the Postal Service for the delivery of everything from their ballots to their paychecks, to their prescription medication, to their social security benefits.

That’s why it is so important that the Postal Service maintain the public’s trust. 

And that’s why I am so concerned with this administration’s efforts to privatize the Postal Service.

Like everything we have seen this administration do in recent months, privatizing the Postal Service is not a serious attempt at improving efficiency.

The only supposed “efficiencies” would come from private entities shedding the public service obligations of the Postal Service and paying their workers less than we pay our postal carriers.

A privatized Postal Service could, for example, cut mail delivery to remote rural areas or low-income urban neighborhoods.

That might lower operating costs, but the people living in those communities certainly won’t see it as an improvement to efficiency. 

If we actually care about making government smarter and more efficient, we do it by listening to the Inspector General, by considering her findings, and by asking questions to guide reform.

We don’t do it with a chainsaw.

I thank Inspector General Tammy Hull for coming in to talk with us today.

From keeping our postal carriers safe from violent crime to enhancing service for rural areas, I’m eager to hear her insights on how we can improve the Postal Service.

Before I close, I ought to note that the Postal Service is a perfect example of the quality public services that Americans expect from their government. 

In recent months, the administration has tried to dismantle many of those services.

Often, the stakes are much higher than those we discussed regarding the Postal Service today.

Some of the entities responsible for recent disruptions in service – including DOGE and the Office of Management and Budget – fall under this committee’s jurisdiction.

Many of the agencies that Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Russell Vought have taken the hatchet to – from the Office of Personnel Management to the Internal Revenue Service to the Consumer Product Safety Commission – are also within our committee’s purview. 

I have made it clear to my friends across the aisle that our committee can and should do more to perform oversight on the administration and to get answers for the American people.

That is one of the most important duties of the Congress under the constitution. 

I have asked for us to hold more hearings with leaders from the administration that are transparent – open to both the American public and the press.

I am pleased that we are finally holding a substantive hearing with the Treasury Secretary next week, and I look forward to working with the chairman to build on that progress.

Thank you again to Inspector General Tammy Hull for joining us.

I yield my time.

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