Joe Lieberman: “I thank the Chair, and I thank our colleagues for a very strong vote which says to me that Members of the Senate, across…”

“I thank the Chair, and I thank our colleagues for a very strong vote which says to me that Members of the Senate, across party lines, understand that the Postal Service is a historic and also important part of America's future. It needs to change. It is in the midst of a real and dangerous fiscal crisis. We may differ about how to react to that crisis, but this strong cloture vote says to me that three-quarters of the Members of the Senate at least are ready and eager to debate and to pass something that will save the Postal Service from bankruptcy and the implications that would have for our economy overall. The billions of dollars or hundreds of billions of dollars of our economy that depend on the mail would be compromised, and our economy and jobs would be further hurt. I hope that as the day goes on--obviously, with the strong vote for cloture, we now proceed to a 30-hour period of debate on the matter, but I certainly hope that as the day goes on and the members of both caucuses and the leaders talk we can find a mutually agreeable path not to spend the 30 hours on the debate on this motion to proceed but that we go right to the bill.…”