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

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----

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?

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

let me begin by saluting the leadership of my colleague, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Senator Lieberman. He has been so persistent in ensuring a debate on this program. His leadership on this issue, as on every other…

If the President is serious about promising fiscal restraint, he has to quit treating taxpayer dollars like Monopoly money.

Is the administration considering the advantages of a Housing First approach to help address the growing number of homeless people?

It is a mistake for the administration to ignore the housing needs in our rural communities.

According to a Pentagon survey, 90 percent of military personnel utilize commissary benefits.

A tremendous opportunity there, as Senator Collins well knows, in part because of the magnitude of the resource and how close it is to those load centers.

I hope that as MMS looks at leasing opportunities on the OCS for renewable resources, that you will revise the draft regulations which do not include the Gulf of Maine at this time.

I do not want our country to lose the edge in the development of alternative energy, particularly offshore wind, because our permitting process is so slow and cumbersome.

The need for funding is great.

It's a real problem that we're passing just these short-term extensions. I supported and helped advance the bill...

I want to take advantage of this opportunity to bring to your attention, and the attention of my colleagues, a very serious problem that we're facing in northern Maine.

I hope, as you do the second round of TIGER grant applications... that you'll take a hard look at that application.

It's an economic climate where we need to invest our scarce resources in areas, like infrastructure, that will not only build roads and bridges, but help rebuild our economy.

Where are we going to spend all of that money? Where are we going to get all of that money? What's it going to do?

Instead of a serious plan to tackle our Nation's transportation policy challenges, the administration is repeating last year's mistake.

We need a clear-cut, coherent, and detailed blueprint, detailing how taxpayer dollars will be spent to reach our transportation infrastructure goals.

I'm committed to helping you. I'll have our rail administrator in Maine, whenever we can get all the stakeholders together, and we will work with you on a plan to get this funded.

As many of the Recovery Act funds are now spent, the transportation industry faces difficult times ahead if we do not act to make the necessary investments in our transportation infrastructure.

Refusing to deal with them, or putting off the tough choices, is not a responsible way to go about it.

The figures show what an overwhelming demand there is for infrastructure spending along the lines that both of you have outlined.