H.R. 6441

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6441 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6441

To require the Postmaster General update the systems of the Postal 
Service to accurately recognize and preserve address data, including 
the proper use of linguistic characters and place names, in Puerto 
Rico, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 4, 2025

Mr. Hernandez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To require the Postmaster General update the systems of the Postal 
Service to accurately recognize and preserve address data, including 
the proper use of linguistic characters and place names, in Puerto 
Rico, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Puerto Rico Postal Equity Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:
(1) The accurate identification, formatting, and 
integration of physical addresses are essential to the 
efficient operation of the United States Postal Service, the 
reliability of mail delivery, the facilitation of e-commerce, 
and the equitable distribution of Federal programs and 
services.
(2) Historical and structural complexities in Puerto Rico's 
local addressing conventions create inconsistencies between 
locally assigned addresses and those recognized by the United 
States Postal Service, Federal agencies, and major private 
platforms, resulting in recurring delivery and validation 
failures.
(3) Such inconsistencies include the omission or alteration 
of diacritical marks recognized in Spanish-language place 
names, street names, and surnames, which can lead to 
misidentification, delivery errors, and data mismatches in 
official records.
(4) The preservation of accurate orthography and culturally 
specific characters in Federal data systems is essential to 
ensuring the integrity of official records, compliance with 
civil rights and language access standards, and the protection 
of identity and property rights.
(5) Strengthened coordination between the United States 
Postal Service and the Department of Commerce, including the 
Census Bureau, would enhance national data accuracy, support 
economic development, and advance equity across Puerto Rico by 
improving how the United States Postal Service identifies and 
resolves recurrent address recognition and delivery issues in 
Puerto Rico.

SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO ACCURACY OF PUERTO RICO ADDRESS DATA.

(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Postmaster General shall develop and 
implement improvements to the systems of the United States Postal 
Service to improve the accuracy and recognition of addresses in Puerto 
Rico, including--
(1) using existing operational indicators of the United 
States Postal Service, including Undeliverable-As-Addressed 
codes, mail delivery exception records, address quality data 
from the address management system of the United States Postal 
Service, delivery point validation results, consumer complaint 
information, and address validation outcomes data from the 
websites of the United States Postal Service, to identify 
locations in Puerto Rico with persistent address recognition or 
mail delivery issues;
(2) updating the address records, routing information, and 
validation tables of the United States Postal Service for the 
locations identified under subsection (1);
(3) revising the relevant systems of the United States 
Postal Service, including address matching, address validation, 
and mail and delivery routing systems, to support the use of 
diacritical marks and other address elements used in Puerto 
Rico for addresses in Puerto Rico; and
(4) taking such other actions as determined appropriate by 
the Postmaster General based on the relevant data to improve 
the recognition by the systems of the United States Postal 
Service of and the proper delivery of mail to properly assigned 
addresses in Puerto Rico.
(b) Consultation.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Postmaster 
General shall consult with the Bureau of the Census, including the 
Census Open Innovation Lab, the Puerto Rico Planning Board established 
by Puerto Rico Act 75-1975 (23 L.P.R.A. 62 et seq.), and appropriate 
local governments in Puerto Rico, to obtain information required to 
carry out such subsection.
(c) Reporting.--Not later than one year after enactment of this 
Act, and annually thereafter for three years, the Postmaster General 
shall submit to Congress a report detailing--
(1) the actions taken under this section;
(2) the progress of the United States Postal Service in 
improving the recognition of and accuracy of delivery to 
addresses in Puerto Rico; and
(3) any barriers to carrying out subsection (a) and 
recommendations for legislative or administrative action to 
address such barriers.
(d) Diacritical Mark Defined.--In this Act, the term ``diacritical 
mark'' means any accent, tilde, or other orthographic sign used by the 
Spanish language to indicate pronunciation or meaning in proper nouns 
and place names within Puerto Rico.

SEC. 4. CUTGO COMPLIANCE.

No additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out this Act. The Postmaster General shall carry out this Act using 
amounts otherwise appropriated or made available to United States 
Postal Service.
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