Joe Lieberman

The hearing will come to order. Good morning, and welcome to this hearing on the nomination of Ernest Mitchell, Jr.

Thank you, Senator Collins.

I think we have learned a lot, and I think we have a sense of mission about what we can do with you to make sure we do not repeat mistakes that we have made in the past.

I thank you both for your continuing public service. I appreciate it a lot.

It is crazy and unacceptable.

I commend the people on this Commission for the intensive effort that they have put into satisfying this statutory mandate.

How well we execute wartime contracting helps to determine how well we build the peace.

Last month, the Commission issued its final--and I would say to me very disturbing--report because it says that at least $31 billion, and maybe as much as $60 billion, have been squandered in waste, fraud, and abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan…

The Commission on Wartime Contracting was created by legislation sponsored by Senator Claire McCaskill and Senator Jim Webb to investigate our reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I still do. I support the aggressive rebuilding efforts in both of those nations, and I still do.

There is no question that, although I think we knew it then, we can certainly look back and say now that we understand that on that day, we were drawn into a war which is increasingly global.

In 4 days, we will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the attacks of 9/11 and mourn anew the nearly 3,000 lives that were lost that day.

We have a lot of hard work to do together because the status quo is not going to work.

The Postal Service is a great national asset. It has an irreplaceable national network.

I share your view that though the situation is dire, it is not hopeless. It is actually full of hope, and it is full of necessity.

I have spoken to Senator Collins today in a sidebar conversation just before she left.

There is a way to do this that makes sense, and we can learn lessons from that industry.

The situation is dire. But I would just add it is not hopeless.

I hope we go well before that.

I think maybe the same thing could happen here if we would give it a shot.

I am not sure if there is a way to structure through negotiations, not mandated by the Congress but through negotiations between the Postal Service and organized labor to find a way to continue 6-day-a-week delivery and at the same time…

I think the Postal Regulatory Commission said, no, it is more like $2 billion a year.

The Postal Service tells us they need to go from 6-day to 5-day delivery in order to save what they think is about $3 billion a year.

I can see opposition, some in the Senate and certainly a significant amount in the House, on the theory that somehow that is a bailout.

I support that and I will support legislation to do that.