Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The question is on agreeing to the amendment. The clerk will call the roll. The assistant bill clerk…

Mr. President and all of my colleagues here, this amendment is the only one that will give us a chance to save, truly, the American Postal Service. It is the only one. It is a 2-year prohibition against closing any of our post offices and…

Madam President, I support this amendment. There is an inexcusable backlog at OPM in processing the application for retirement benefits. It has caused real hardships for some retired Federal employees and postal employees. This bill will…

Mr. President, this amendment establishes what is essentially a privatization pilot program for the alternative delivery of mail outside of the universal service mandate of the Postal Service. I believe it would create chaos by allowing…

Madam President, this is an important victory for the U.S. Postal Service and the American economy. The Postal Service is the linchpin of a $1.1 trillion mailing and mail-related industry that employs nearly 8.7 million Americans in fields…

Mr. President, I too support the amendment and urge its adoption. The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there is no further debate, the question is on the adoption of the amendment. The amendment (No. 2029), as modified, was agreed to.

Mr. President, this amendment would strip from the postal workers the right to collectively bargain. This is an enormous change in labor law. Postal workers have had the right to engage in collective bargaining for more than 30 years. We…

Madam President, I believe the odds of our getting the 60 votes for final passage are increased if I make my statement later, rather than delivering it right now. I will deliver my statement after the vote, but I do wish to thank Senator…

I thank the Chair. Mr. President, I urge support of Senator DeMint's amendment. It protects the first amendment rights of postal workers by requiring that unions obtain prior approval from workers before spending their dues on political…

Madam President, first let me commend the Senator from Missouri for this amendment. It does make a great deal of sense to have the hardship exemption and to give more time for individuals who are injured in war zones and longer deadlines…

Mr. President, this is a commonsense amendment. It would limit the number of post offices in the Capitol Complex to one on each side--one in the House and one in the Senate. It does not affect the processing of mail out of the Capitol, and…

I mean, I understand the delay. I understand that there are problems. I understand that claims go over a year.

That is why the IG report said that there is a breakdown with you meeting performance standards.

Mr. President, I too support the amendment offered by Senator Tester and Senator Levin. It simply makes clear that the Postal Regulatory Commission may review an appeal of a post office closure if it violates either the overnight delivery…

There is also a Supreme Court case, Lynch v. The United States, which makes clear that the due process clause prohibits the Federal Government from annulling its contracts and the United States is as much bound by its contracts as are…

Mr. President, I am only going to speak very briefly. I wish to shine a spotlight on a provision of Senator McCain's substitute that has not yet been discussed that actually raises constitutional issues. All of us believe the labor force…

Mr. President, the score for the substitute is incredibly misleading. As the Postal Service has told us, this bill would save the Postal Service $19 billion, and that would return it to profitability. The problem is the unique status of…

Mr. President, let me repeat for my colleagues one more time: There are no taxpayer dollars authorized by this bill or appropriated by this bill. The score is caused by the unique status the postal service accounts have within the unified…