II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2875 

To require the prompt reconstruction of and restoration of suspended 

operation of rural post offices, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 

Mr. HAWLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the prompt reconstruction of and restoration of 

suspended operation of rural post offices, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Post Office Re5 construction Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Rural communities rely heavily on post of9 fices for daily life. 


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1 (2) Many rural towns lack access to digital 

2 communications and high-speed broadband. 

3 (3) The loss of a functioning post office in a 

4 rural community jeopardizes vital services, including 

5 reliable medical deliveries, payment disbursements, 

6 and essential communications. 

7 (4) Efficiently and promptly rebuilding rural 

8 post offices is necessary to ensure individuals retain 

9 vital services. 

10 SEC. 3. RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTORATION OF SUS11 PENDED POST OFFICES. 

12 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 4 of title 39, United 

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘§ 417. Reconstruction and restoration of suspended 

16 post offices 

17 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

18 ‘‘(1) the term ‘damaged rural post office’ means 

19 a rural post office— 

20 ‘‘(A) that becomes inoperable or suffers ir21 reparable damage on or after the date that is 

22 2 years before the date of enactment of this 

23 section; and 

24 ‘‘(B) for which no alternate suitable quar25 ters exist in the community; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘rural post office’ means a post 

2 office located in an area not included within an 

3 urban area (as defined by the Bureau of the Cen4 sus); and 

5 ‘‘(3) the term ‘suspended rural post office’ 

6 means a rural post office that suspends operation 

7 due to a lease or rental agreement termination on or 

8 after the date that is 2 years before the date of en9 actment of this section. 

10 ‘‘(b) RECONSTRUCTION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Service shall 

12 commence reconstruction of a damaged rural post 

13 office, which shall be carried out in consultation with 

14 the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man15 agement Agency if the damage is due to a natural 

16 disaster— 

17 ‘‘(A) if the damaged rural post office be18 comes inoperable or suffers irreparable damage 

19 on or after the date of enactment of this sec20 tion, not later than 90 days after the date of 

21 such inoperability or irreparable damage; and 

22 ‘‘(B) if the damaged rural post office be23 came inoperable or suffered irreparable damage 

24 not more than 2 years before the date of enactVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Sep 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2875.IS S2875

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1 ment of this section, not later than 90 days 

2 after the date of such enactment. 

3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Postal Service shall 

4 delay reconstruction of a damaged rural post office 

5 under paragraph (1) if individuals directly involved 

6 with the reconstruction will be subject to physical in7 jury or undue risk due to the reconstruction efforts 

8 until such time as it would be safe for those individ9 uals to proceed with the reconstruction. 

10 ‘‘(c) RESTORATION OF SUSPENDED OPERATION.— 

11 The Postal Service, in consultation with the Administrator 

12 of General Services, shall secure a suitable replacement 

13 lease or rental agreement for a suspended rural post of14 fice— 

15 ‘‘(1) if the suspended rural post office suspends 

16 operation on or after the date of enactment of this 

17 section, not later than 90 days after the date of sus18 pension of operation; and 

19 ‘‘(2) if the suspended rural post office sus20 pended operation not more than 2 years before the 

21 date of enactment of this section, not later than 90 

22 days after the date of such enactment. 

23 ‘‘(d) REPORT REQUIRED.—If the Postal Service does 

24 not execute the measures described in subsection (b) or 

25 (c) within the time period required under the applicable 


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1 subsection, the Postmaster General shall submit to the 

2 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af3 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and 

4 Accountability of the House of Representatives a report 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(1) describes in detail the specific reasons why 

7 reconstruction of the damaged rural post office or 

8 restoration of operation of the suspended rural post 

9 office was not performed; 

10 ‘‘(2) describes in detail any remediation efforts 

11 for individuals adversely affected by the suspension 

12 of mail operations; and 

13 ‘‘(3) provides a specific timeline for completion 

14 of the reconstruction or restoration of operations, as 

15 applicable.’’. 

16 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

17 The table of sections for chapter 4 of title 39, United 

18 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat19 ing to section 416 the following: 

‘‘417. Reconstruction and restoration of suspended post offices.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. FUNDING. 

21 No additional funds are authorized to be appro22 priated to carry out the amendments made by this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

3 on the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act. 

Æ 


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