We need a bill. I cannot urge you more strongly to get a bill out this year.

I think it is a proper role of government to provide for the common defense.

Where is the common ground? Where does it lie?

I think that is important to keep in mind.

The time to act is now. Long on nouns, short on verbs. Let us get it done.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman.

I want to note, as John has, that our bill has been reported in the Senate out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Thanks very much, Mr. Chairman. It is great to see you.

I think it has been good for the country and the Senate.

It is not enough just to cut, cut, cut, we have to find ways to raise some revenues as well.

the Board's intemperate and unhelpful comments do not help to advance it.

We need the best ideas from the Board of Governors. We need the best ideas from postal management, from the unions that represent the postal employees, from our colleagues, and from your customers across the country.

roughly two-thirds of the cost of raising a chicken is the cost of feed. In recent years, the cost of feed, including the cost of corn, has, as we know, risen dramatically, raising with it the cost of chicken and other meats in our…

Our bill would clean up the Postal Service's books by refunding the more than $10 billion it has over-paid.

the issue of post office closings, as Senator Collins well knows, was a difficult issue to wrestle with.

I think the notion of having the Postal Service issue stamps with live people's pictures on them--would be a very bad idea.

I think it is great that you could come by and introduce Ms. Tobin.

it reflects a carefully balanced compromise and attention to all the stakeholders' concerns.

We cannot afford to let the Postal Service collapse or to let this uncertainty prevail.

And I would say, Senator Collins really spoke for both of us when she said that.

My best business judgment is that it is not sufficient.

The situation that the Postal Service faces is dire. It is not hopeless. This is something we can fix.

There is a real interest on the part of a number of us in this body, Democrats and Republicans, to try to promote a nurturing environment for more of an entrepreneurial spirit.

this was a bipartisan bill that passed with overwhelming support, 62 votes.

I call up amendment No. 2287 and ask unanimous consent that the reading be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from Delaware [Mr. Carper], for himself and Mr…