Confusing Zip Codes Cause Unnecessary Difficulties

Floor Speech

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Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, currently in the United States, some municipalities have ZIP Codes that don't match the municipal boundaries, and it is a real problem.

Communities across southeast Wisconsin, including Somers, Mount Pleasant, Caledonia, and Franklin have dealt with this unnecessary difficulty as a result, so I rise in support of H.R. 8753 to fix this problem.

H.R. 8753 will direct the United States Postal Service to designate single, unique ZIP Codes for certain communities.

When physical mailing addresses differ because multiple ZIP Codes converge within one municipality, it causes real confusion.

Besides mail delivery issues, inaccurate address listings can cause delays in service response times, higher insurance rates, problems with tax rebates, confusion over polling places, and incorrect jury summonses.

ZIP Codes play an important role in community identity. The consequences of inaccurate address listings have been a constant frustration for many local officials and the people they serve. In fact, Dave DeGroot is the one who brought this to my attention.

This bill directs USPS to create ZIP Codes that align with municipal boundaries. It is a commonsense solution, and I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation. ActBlue Investigation

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Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, I think we can all agree foreign funding has no place in American elections.

Over the past year, my Committee on House Administration has investigated multiple situations, and in particular the Democratic online fundraising platform of ActBlue, identifying and showing the vulnerabilities that exist that could be exploited by foreign actors.

We have uncovered that the platform previously wasn't requiring the use of a CVV code. That is the three or four digit number on the back of your credit card. It is a simple financial safeguard most online companies use to deter bad actors.

The Committee on House Administration has recently subpoenaed ActBlue for documents related to potential foreign influence in campaign funding. As chairman, I have introduced legislation to require the CVV number and prohibit prepaid cards from being used to make contributions, a pathway for foreign entities, including drug cartels, to launder money.

The SHIELD Act would prohibit political committees from accepting online contributions unless the contributor provides the CVV number and the billing address associated with the card and also prohibit them from accepting online contributions from prepaid cards.

It is imperative that we are increasing trust and transparency in our elections. All parties should be complying with Federal election law, including campaign finance laws.

Foreign actors have no place contributing in American elections. They have no place in contributing to American political campaigns. I will continue working to prevent foreign funding in our elections.

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