{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://bell.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-bell-tours-st-louis-usps-facility-postmaster-general-steiner-and", "Congressman Bell Tours St. Louis USPS Facility with Postmaster General Steiner and House Oversight Members", "2026-09-04", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Wesley Bell", "B001324", "bell.house.gov", "bell", "https://bell.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "The purpose of the tour was to shed light on several postal issues that have been plaguing the region\n\nRepresentatives Budzinski and Sessions joined Bell for the tour, which was led by Postmaster General Steiner\n\nCongressman Bell has been outspoken about postal issues in the St. Louis region and recently introduced the St. Louis Postal Accountability and Reform (STL Up To PAR) Act\n\nResidents of the region have complained about mail delays that have impacted prescription medication, bills, ballots, and more\n\nCongressman Bell: \u201cWe\u2019re not here to criticize what is going right, we are here to figure out how to fix what is going wrong\u201d\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, Representatives Wesley Bell (D-MO-01), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13), and Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX-17) toured the United States Postal Service (USPS) St. Louis Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) to better understand some of the postal issues impacting the region.\n\nPostmaster General David Steiner led the tour. Steiner has been serving as Postmaster General since May 2025.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re not here to criticize what is going right, we are here to figure out how to fix what is going wrong,\u201d said Rep. Bell following the tour. \u201cThis isn\u2019t a partisan issue \u2013 mail delays aren\u2019t dictated by your political allegiance, which is why it is so important that these issues are being addressed in a bipartisan fashion. I look forward to working with Chairman Sessions and Congresswoman Budzinski to fix the postal problems people are facing here in St. Louis and across the nation.\u201d\n\nCongressman Bell has made it a priority in Congress to address the postal issues in the St. Louis region. Two audits by the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in 2025 found longstanding operational challenges that have caused persistent mail delays for residents across the St. Louis region. To address some of the issues detailed in the report, Rep. Bell introduced the bipartisan St. Louis Postal Accountability and Reform (STL Up To PAR) Act, with Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO-02). The bill directs USPS to submit a report to Congress on mail and package delivery service performance in the St. Louis region. The legislation is not designed to penalize USPS, but to give both Congress and constituents a clear picture of where things stand and where work remains.", 1, "2026-09-07T09:58:26Z", "2026-09-07T09:59:51Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://bell.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-bell-tours-st-louis-usps-facility-postmaster-general-steiner-and"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8797019254416227, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}