Political Quotes

“Madam President, before my friend and colleague from Maryland leaves the floor, I wish to thank her for her passionate advocacy on behalf of her constituents. I have a similar problem in my home State of Maine, where a processing center has been targeted for closure that would have an extraordinarily detrimental impact on mail delivery for two-thirds of the State of Maine. It makes no sense whatsoever. It would do away with overnight delivery, as the Senator has indicated. I would encourage her to continue to work with us and also to look at the specific provisions we have put into the substitute that reflect the input we have had from her and many other concerned Senators. One of those standards deals with the overnight delivery and the need to maintain that standard of service. This is an advantage the Postal Service has, and it helps it keep customers. In my view, to do away with overnight delivery would be foolhardy, and it would actually cause more mailers to leave the Postal Service, which would produce a further decline in volume and, thus, revenues would plummet still further. I understand a lot of the concerns the Senator from Maryland has raised. I do think we have taken care of some of her concerns in the new substitute we have proposed on a bipartisan basis. But we look forward to continuing to work with her to address her concerns.”