Political Quotes

“I am very pleased to join with the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in urging all of our colleagues to cast a vote for cloture on the motion to proceed to this vitally important bill. There are many different views on how to save the Postal Service, but there can be no doubt that the Postal Service is in crisis. We are at a critical juncture. Without passing legislation, the Postal Service will simply be unable to meet its payroll, perhaps as soon as this fall. We simply cannot allow that to happen. The Postal Service is vital to our economy. It is the linchpin of a trillion-dollar mailing industry that employs nearly 8.7 million Americans in fields as diverse as printing, catalog companies, paper manufacturing, and newspaper and magazine publishers. These industries and the jobs they sustain are in jeopardy. If we fail to act, we will deliver a crippling blow to the Postal Service. As Senator Lieberman has indicated, the Postal Service is in crisis. It has lost more than $13 billion just in the past 2 years. First-class mail volume has dropped by 23 percent over the past 5 years and 12 percent over the past 2 years. The Postal Service has a debt to the U.S. Treasury of $13 billion and will max out its credit limit of $15 billion this year. We have to address this crisis. It would be irresponsible for Members to simply vote no on the motion to proceed if they have other ideas on how to address this crisis.…”