Pascrell Warns Withdrawal From Universal Postal Union Will Cause Chaos, Skyrocketing Rates

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) today reacted to emergency meetings being held in Geneva today as the Trump administration threatens to pull the United States out of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), which helps maintain low postal rates between nations.

“Our postal service is world-class because we work hand in hand with the international community.  Quitting the Universal Postal Union would weaken the United States Postal Service (USPS) both domestically and abroad, harming American manufacturers, businesses, and consumers. Further, leaving the union would deny the USPS access to the digital and physical infrastructure the UPU provides. This puts at risk billions in revenue the postal service brings in annually from international business.

“We must pursue good faith negotiations with the UPU and its 192 member countries to benefit the USPS and its more than 500,000 postal employees as well as American consumers and businesses. The administration should not toss our postal service, businesses, and consumers into chaos by exiting the UPU to further a ham-fisted nationalistic impulse.”

Rep. Pascrell has been a leader in Congress demanding reform to return the USPS to its former glory and strengthen it so it remains an integral part of American life, goals he outlined in a well-received April 2019 essay in Washington Monthly. Pascrell is a cosponsor of H.R. 2382, the USPS Fairness Act that would finally remove the health care prefunding anchor that has been strangling USPS since 2007. Pascrell is also a strong supporter of widespread postal banking, and in June 2019 his bipartisan amendment allocating $1 million to begin funding a postal banking system was passed by the House of Representatives.

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