I rise to support the amendment offered by my friend from Hawaii. The Postal Service is going to need the support of all its employees and managers to turn around its current decline. Postmasters and postal supervisors are a real and…

I wish to join my friend from Maine in respectfully opposing Senator Akaka's amendment. This workers' compensation program has gotten out of control. Senator Collins has worked hard on this with others. Her reform proposal for the Postal…

If I may, if we are going to vote now--and Senator Collins and I spoke to this at great length yesterday. The CBO score my friend from Alabama cites is a real misreading of the effect of this legislation. It is a kind of form of accounting…

I rise to oppose the amendment of my friend from New Mexico. I know there are a lot of people who don't want to lose 6-day delivery. But the greater imperative is not to lose the Postal Service as we know it. The Postmaster asked for the…

I move to reconsider the vote, and to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2034 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.

pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and the waiver provisions of applicable budget resolutions, I move to waive all applicable sections of the act and budget resolutions for purposes of the pending amendment for…

I appreciate the work that has been done on this amendment. I know there is a lot of interest on both sides of the aisle because of the concern about rural post offices. This establishes, again, some standards. It effectively asks the…

a while back we skipped over the McCaskill-Merkley amendment. We were working on a modification. The modification is ready now. I ask unanimous consent that we proceed to the McCaskill-Merkley amendment No. 2031. The PRESIDING OFFICER…

I also support the amendment, and I thank Senator Coburn for introducing it. This is disclosure and limitation of spending on conferences. Unfortunately, the excessive and outrageous spending by GSA on the conference in Las Vegas brought…

I rise to oppose the amendment. This amendment would create a commission similar to the base closure commission to oversee Postal Service decisions regarding which post offices, processing plants, and district offices are to close or…

I urge adoption of the amendment and ask for a voice vote. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment. Amendment (No. 2056), as modified, was agreed to.

I rise to support the amendment. I thank Senator Wyden and those who worked with him on this amendment for, frankly, calling our attention to this important matter and working to ensure that our efforts to salvage the U.S. Postal Service…

I move to reconsider the vote and to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma. Amendment No. 2060

I move to reconsider the vote and move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

I support Senator Tester's amendment. It simply creates safeguards to ensure that the Postal Service, when it closes a post office, does so as the result of a process that is transparent and takes into account the unique needs of…

I thank my friend from Illinois. He has explained the amendment totally. It is a good amendment. I support its passage, and urge we adopt it by voice vote. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate? If not, the question is on agreeing…

I ask unanimous consent that the next amendment on the list, the so-called McCaskill-Merkley amendment, be dropped a few places down because we are working on some compromise language that we hope will lead to a voice vote of acceptance…

I just want to say briefly, thanks to my friend from Tennessee not just for his kind words, which mean a lot to me, but for coming to the floor to discuss his amendment. There are different points of view about this issue. I think, as I…

I wish to thank Senator Akaka for coming to the floor and speaking on behalf of his amendment. He is one of the most hard-working, constructive members of our committee, the committee from which the underlying bill has come. He is one of…

thanks to the Senator from Virginia. He makes a very important point: Of the $19 billion in savings that the Postal Service itself believes will result annually as of 2016, $8.1 billion will come from the reduction in salaries paid because…

I thank my friend from Virginia most importantly for focusing our attention--I know Senator Collins and Senator Akaka have also been involved in this--on this unacceptable situation, where Federal employees are retiring. Because of a lot…

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Webb). Without objection, it is so ordered.

I thank the Presiding Officer for liberating me from the chair so I may now speak in my capacity as a Senator from the State of Connecticut. First, I would like to thank my friend from Maine, Senator Collins, for what I thought was a very…

I yield for my distinguished ranking member, Senator Collins. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Maine.

All along, our goal has been to get to a point, over 3 or 4 years, where we would save as close to $20 billion a year as we could. That is the number Postmaster General Donahoe gave to our committee as to what he needed, the Postal Service…