Political Quotes

“I rise to speak on the postal reform bill and to offer constructive suggestions. I know Senator Collins was scheduled to speak. I am going to take this time. She is in a meeting, and it is agreeable to her we follow this sequencing. There is no doubt that the Postal Service is in need of reform, and I support the concept of reform. I salute the architects of the bill, Senators Lieberman and Collins, on the framework they have proposed. I think it was thoughtful and robust and even ambitious. I wish to compliment them on the process that is the hallmark of this committee. If I could have the attention of the Senator from Connecticut for a moment, I say to Senator Lieberman, I want to comment that we know you are about to retire, and we are going to miss you because here we are having a civilized, rational, thoughtful, data-driven type of conversation, and I think it is a hallmark of the way you and Senator Collins have functioned to bring this bill to our attention. The Senate ought to do more of it. I thank the Senator for his leadership, though I disagree with some of the parts in this bill. But that is the way the Senate should be. Let me talk about postal reform, and first about the post office. The post office is not a business. It is a public utility, and we need to think of it as a public utility; that which provides universal service to keep the juice and electricity of our economy going.…”