Political Quotes

“I, too, want to comment on this issue of the prefunding for the health care benefits of future retirees. I think it is important to note that when the 2006 law was written, the Postal Service supported this provision because it recognized that it had a huge unfunded liability for future health benefits and it knew it was important to start putting money aside to ensure that at the time those retirees needed to claim those benefits, the money would be there and the promises would be kept. It was also important because we wanted to avoid the possibility of a system going into default and taxpayers having to step in to keep the promises the Postal Service has made. The fact is the current liability is about $46 billion for those retiree health benefits, the future retiree health benefits. That liability is a very real one. It is not going away. Nevertheless, we have taken steps in our bill, as Senator Lieberman has described, to ease the funding by setting up a 40-year amortization schedule and by changing the discount rate. So those two provisions should save the Postal Service approximately $2 billion--the exact number would be determined--each year, and that is obviously very welcome. But I do want to address what I believe is another misconception, and that is that the funding for future retirees' health benefits is somehow the cause of the Postal Service's financial crisis. It is not.…”