Lawmakers call on congressional leaders to secure USPS funding

April 30 (UPI) -- A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Thursday sent a letter to congressional leaders calling for emergency funding for the U.S. Postal Service in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

House oversight and reform committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.; Reps. Pete King, R-N.Y.; Gerry Connolly, D-Va.; and Mark Amodei, R-Nev., sent a letter to House and Senate leaders of both parties. Their request supported a proposal by the Postal Service Board of Governors for $75 billion in aid for USPS.

The package would include $25 billion to offset coronavirus losses, $25 billion for projects to modernize the USPS and unrestricted access to borrow $25 billion from the Treasury Department.

The lawmakers warned that mail volume has dropped more than 30 percent from the same period last year and that the USPS estimates revenue losses of $13 billion this fiscal year, $10 billion next fiscal year and $54 million in the next 10 years due to the coronavirus.

"This is a national emergency. The negative effects of this crisis will be borne hardest by those in rural areas -- where millions of Americans are currently sheltering in place and relying on the Postal Service to deliver essential supplies," they wrote.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats attempted to secure funding for the USPS in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act passed month but the funding was blocked by the White House.

"We had some support in the Senate on the Republican side. But the White House -- and they told me it came right from the president [said] no money for the post office," she said.

President Donald Trump has tweeted that the United States will not allow the USPS to fail, but suggested that it raise prices to compete with services such as Amazon.