Following years of debate to build consensus, it is time to pass this vital and carefully constructed legislation, a bipartisan compromise bill that will bring financial stability to the Postal Service.

The legislation includes key provisions of importance to the men and women who are the backbone of the Postal Service. First, H.R. 3076 eliminates the mandate that the Postal Service pre-fund its retiree health care benefits decades in advance, a requirement asked of no other public or private agency. Second, this legislation adopts private-sector best practice by maximizing the integration of postal annuitants into Medicare—a program to which the Postal Service and its workers have contributed more than $34 billion.

Additionally, the legislation benefits the public by codifying the mandate to provide six-day mail delivery, which has been required by an Appropriation rider since the 1980s. Some 159 million business and residential customers rely on six-day delivery.

The Postal Service is a vital public institution, self-sustaining and non-taxpayer-funded. Enactment of this legislation will restore and strengthen its financial stability, allowing it to improve service and respond to the evolving needs of American businesses and the families it serves.