Last week, the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held a hearing on the danger posed by the CCP’s efforts to censor and monitor all information coming into and out of the country. The internet is designed to connect people from around the world, promoting the exchange of ideas and information freely. But for those living within the People’s Republic of China, this right is being denied by the CCP, which is using the internet to divide and suppress its people by cutting off their connection to the outside world and only promoting content and ideas that the CCP wants its citizens to see. The CCP has also stifled conversations about human rights and democracy within the PRC, painting the U.S. and our allies as aggressors and spreading anti-democratic propaganda to keep its citizens in line with the authoritarian regime. This, coupled with the CCP’s estimated 500 million surveillance cameras in use throughout the country, has allowed the regime to maintain a stranglehold on its population.

As Ranking Member of the Committee, what is equally concerning is the spread of this type of techno-authoritarian state to other nations around the world. Xi Jinping has said that the countries that control the internet will win the world, and many other leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, have taken steps to restrict online freedoms in a similar manner. The U.S. cannot allow this model to continue to spread, and we must continue to work with our partners and allies to counter the efforts of the CCP to export its Great Firewall idea to other nations. You can watch my full opening statement here and my full question line of the witnesses here.

Last Friday, I joined with Robert Weissman, co-president of public interest at Public Citizen, in authoring a letter in the Washington Post on the current state of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Under Postmaster General DeJoy’s struggling strategic plan, customers of the Postal Service have seen relentless rate hikes. July 14th marked the fifth increase in three years, affecting broad categories of popular mail products, including first-class mail, newspapers, magazines, catalogs, and more. Package prices have also been raised significantly, and the price of the first-class “forever” stamp is now 73 cents.

These recent price increases total more than 184 percent of inflation, leaving small businesses and customers racing to keep up with higher prices, even in the face of declining service standards and slower delivery times. The Postal Regulatory Commission, charged with oversight of the USPS, noted in their recent comments on the rate hikes that “the Commission is concerned, given the current state of affairs, that the Postal Service’s proposal does not reflect reasoned consideration of the potential widespread effects of its proposal, is not prudent, and is not consistent with the best interest of all stakeholders.”

Our country needs a reliable, affordable postal system for everyone. Contrary to the title of Louis DeJoy’s strategy for the USPS, his current leadership is not “delivering for America.”

You can read the full letter from Robert Weissman and me here.

On May 6^th, I held a virtual town hall on the best practices to increase your cybersecurity. Following the conclusion of the town hall, several constituents reached out to my office asking us to highlight the suggestions that were made. Our office heard you, and we are pleased to say you can now find a ‘Top 10 Best Practices for Cybersecurity’ document on our website by clicking here.

The best way to stay up to date on these issues beyond our newsletter is through my social media accounts, which I update multiple times each day. You can follow my Twitter (X) here, my Facebook page here, my Instagram here, and my Threads here. Thank you for staying engaged in our community.