Postal Nonbank Financial Services

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, I am very honored to be co-leading efforts to provide $6 million for postal nonbank financial services in a pilot program through the U.S. Postal Service.

I am thankful to my House colleagues, Congressman Bill Pascrell and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and our friends in the Senate for joining our effort.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that many Americans are left behind by Wall Street bankers.

As unemployment soared in 2020, the U.S. Congress swiftly provided relief through economic stimulus payments, unemployment insurance, and so much more to America's workers, yet over 63 million Americans, including many who are impoverished, lacked the most basic banking services to access these funds and to conduct the simplest financial transactions. Like, for example, paying a utility bill.

Yes, according to the FDIC, some 63 million adults are considered underbanked in urban, suburban, and rural communities across our Nation.

In the last Congress, Congressman Pascrell and I successfully led a Financial Services amendment to the FY21 Appropriations bill to include $2 million for postal financial services, and we look forward to reintroducing our bill and to getting it passed in both Chambers this year.

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