Susan Collins

I will ask you to work very closely with the local redevelopment authority in Maine.

The law took effect immediately. I put out a memo to the services giving some policy direction.

I worked very hard to include a critical provision in the defense authorization bill that would help to accelerate the transfer of excess military property.

The State of Maine is coping with the imminent loss of a major defense installation.

I could not help but think, as the chairman departed, that he was totally comfortable turning over the gavel to you.

Isn't it a problem if we come up with an amortization schedule that suspends payments for several years?

I hope to get that benefit in the future.

Let me pick up on the issue of 5-day delivery. One of the major problems that the Postal Service is facing is a reduction in volume. Would you agree with that?

Approximately every 3 years--in 2003, in 2006, and again last year, in 2009--the Postal Service has come to Congress seeking relief from its financial obligations in exchange for promises of future profitability.

What I don't want to see is another year like this past year... where the payment is significantly reduced.

Mr. Potter, it's my understanding that the OPM and the GAO both strenuously disagree with the inspector general's conclusion.

The GAO also says that the Postal Service pays a considerably higher percentage of the employees' health insurance and life insurance, compared to the average Federal agency.

I know, but let me switch----

I'm confident that you're going to lose volume.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me begin by expressing my appreciation to you for holding this important hearing to discuss the dire and declining financial condition of the Postal Service, an institution that is critical to our economy and…

I just wanted to make sure that was very clear for the record.

I must say, Mr. Chairman, that I'm experiencing a sense of deja vu in attending today's hearing on this topic.

What does the FTC do to try to better publicize scams, whether they're via the Internet or coming through the mail?

But, wait. Supply is ample. Why are prices going up?

To be blunt, these are really sweetheart deals, and we estimate that it costs consumers about $3.5 billion a year.

I am troubled about what happened in this case.

I've long had an interest in combating consumer fraud.

But why has there been no action for 2 years since the comment period--more than 2 years?

Well, that's something that I'm sure we're going to continue to work on.

In writing this new rule, if we did, should we distinguish between individual retail investors for whom having that obligation is perhaps even more important because they are less sophisticated arguably than most institutional investors…