US Senate passes postal reform bill soon to become law

Following the US House of Representatives’ passage of bipartisan legislation that would introduce reforms to the country’s postal service, the Senate took up the bill in a vote this week. The legislation passed the upper chamber on a big bipartisan vote which will now be sent to US President Joe Biden’s desk.

The Senate voted to pass the bipartisan USPS reform bill Tuesday, which was stalled back in January by GOP Senator Rick Scott. The bill was passed 79 to 19, with most Republicans voting along with Democrats in support of the bill.

“Every day tens of millions of Americans rely on the post office for their daily essentials – seniors and veterans, small business owners, small-town rural Americans, people waiting for wedding invitations, birthday cards, letters – so we know that the Postal Service is really beloved,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in the press conference following the passage.

Schumer added that the US Postal Service is in need of major improvements, and the passage of the bill is a major win for bipartisanship, for postal workers, and for the public.

“Every day the Postal Service faithfully delivers for the American people and today the Senate is finally delivering for the post office,” said Schumer.

Fredric Rolando, the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, praised the passage of the bill in the Senate, which will soon be on Biden’s desk for signing. Rolando said that the passage is a “monumental victory for letter carriers and all Americans who depend on the Postal Service for affordable and high-quality universal service.”

The day prior marked another achievement in the upper chamber, as the Senate unanimously passed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, which would now make lynching a federal hate crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison once signed into law by Biden. The passage of the landmark bill follows decades of failed efforts to pass the legislation.

“Despite more than 200 attempts to outlaw this heinous form of racial terror at the federal level, it has never been done before. Today, we corrected that historic injustice,” said Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush, who introduced the legislation in the House.