{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://pingree.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3481", "Pingree Votes Again to Support Financial Health of Post Office, Secure Mail Voting", "2020-08-22", "2020", "2020-08", "Democrat", "House", "ME", "Chellie Pingree", "P000597", "pingree.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today voted in support of theDelivering for America Act, which passed the House of Representatives257-150.The critical legislation will provide the United States Postal Service (USPS) with $25 billion in emergency appropriations, requireUSPSto treat election mail as First Class mail, and explicitly reverse the Trump Administration's sabotage of mail delivery under Postmaster Louis DeJoy.\r\nThe Delivering for America Act is the third bill that the House has sent to the Senate to shore up the finances of the Post Office and ensure Americans can vote safely by mail during this pandemic. It's beyond time that Senator McConnell allow a vote on legislation to keep this vital agency afloat,said Congresswoman Pingree.The Senate's lack of urgency to reverse the President's stated goal of slowing down mail service is causing dangerous delays of medication, packages, paychecks, and other critical needs in rural states like Maine.\r\nThe Delivering for America Act will restore Americans' confidence that their mail-in ballots will be securely counted despite the sabotage of mail delivery under Postmaster DeJoy's leadership,Pingree continued.This bill will not only requirethe Postal Serviceto treat mail-in ballots as First Class mail, it will reverse Postmaster DeJoy's disastrous changes at the agency, which have resulted in the removal and destruction of mail sorting machines in Maine and around the country.\r\nThis week, Congresswoman Pingree and 90 Democrats demanded that the USPS Board of Governors remove Postmaster DeJoy from his position. Intheir letter to the board, the members cited destructive changes DeJoy has implemented as well as his several conflict of interests with investments in USPS competitors and contractors.\r\nIn February, the US Houseoverwhelmingly passed a bill repealingthe2006law requiring USPS to prefund all its employees' health care at least 50 years into the future -- with 87 Republicans voting in support of repeal.The McConnell Senate has been blocking H.R.2382 for over six months.\r\nIn May, Congresswoman Pingree voted for the Heroes Act which would provide $25 billion in funding for the Post Office. On August 12, Pingreesent a letterto Postmaster General Louis DeJoy with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and 173 other House Democrats calling for the reversal of policies that have worsened the crisis facing the Postal Service and directly caused a dramatic increase in delayed and undelivered mail.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://pingree.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3481"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1553941294550896, "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"}