Yes, I would just note for the record, according to Congressional Research Service (CRS), 25 percent of private companies prefund their retirement health care.

There is going to be more than an inflation cost because we cannot even meet the commitments that we have now.

Yes, and a specific problem as far as you cannot get the case numbers, one.

Senator Johnson has raised the concerns, about this unfunded liability's impact on Medicare, and I understand why we would want to look at the whole picture.

Let me just caution you. The Segal report has revisionist history in it in terms of what the deal was in 1983...

And since, as you said, the monopoly power is a hindrance now rather than an advantage, can you think of any reason why we should not have, in a bill, the ability for pricing power based on markets, competitive markets, and their…

So there is no subsidy now that is achieved for that that is transferred to other mailers because we are doing this.

All the more reason. If you are that integral of a part of the revenue of the Postal Service, would not cogent members of the Board be very slow to cause something that would lose them significant volume?

We need to, in almost everything we do, ask this question: how do we get a better result for less money?

Postal employees today are subsidizing the rest of the Federal workforce.

We have to make it viable. We have to make the numbers work.

So why would not somebody who is going to send 50 greeting cards this Christmas buy a Forever stamp?

Do you know of any business in the world that could be successful in negotiating their labor contracts when they, in fact, cannot consider their financial health when they negotiate their labor contracts?

So under this bill that we have which gives pricing authority to the Post Office, can you imagine a scenario where they would not consider total revenue volume associated with price increases, and look for that sweet spot?

It is better. We had a big deficit of $1.4 trillion about 4 years ago, huge deficit, and it is now only about $700 billion.

If you do not like what is in this bill and you want to solve the problem, you cannot just complain about what is in the bill. You have to come with an alternative solution that accomplishes the same goals.

But I would also tell you, in the private sector nobody stays on workers' comp in the private sector at retirement age. They go to the retirement.

I am a big buyer of cards. When I go in a place, I buy them.

When Part B was started, it was to be a 50-50 payment differential between the participant and the government. We are at 25 percent.

In today's competitive world, the market will be determinative regarding postage rates.

If you include employee health benefits, the benefit package for the average employee of the Postal Service, excluding management, is $35,000 a year.

What Senator Carper and I are trying to do is to create the environment where all those factors are taken into consideration.

I thank all of you for your testimony.

We vehemently oppose any changes that would interfere with the right of the postal employees and retirees to continue to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Senator Carper and I agree on a lot of things in this bill.