21st Century Postal Service Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, this is a commonsense amendment. It would limit the number of post offices in the Capitol Complex to one on each side--one in the House and one in the Senate. It does not affect the processing of mail out of the Capitol, and I believe we should accept the amendment.

I urge that we accept the amendment by a voice vote.

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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, this amendment establishes what is essentially a privatization pilot program for the alternative delivery of mail outside of the universal service mandate of the Postal Service. I believe it would create chaos by allowing for inconsistent delivery standards across the country. It would cause cream skimming of profitable delivery areas, and that would harm rural America.

I urge rejection of the amendment.

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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, this amendment would strip from the postal workers the right to collectively bargain. This is an enormous change in labor law. Postal workers have had the right to engage in collective bargaining for more than 30 years. We did make changes in this bill in the arbitration process. We made sure if a contract dispute goes to arbitration, the arbitrator has to consider the financial condition of the Postal Service. That will help bring balance into the system. But there is no justification for completely removing the right of workers to collectively bargain.

I urge we reject the amendment.

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Ms. COLLINS. I thank the Chair.

Mr. President, I urge support of Senator DeMint's amendment. It protects the first amendment rights of postal workers by requiring that unions obtain prior approval from workers before spending their dues on political purposes.

I think this is probably the one and only amendment where I will diverge with my chairman, but I do urge support of Senator DeMint's amendment.

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Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, first let me commend the Senator from Missouri for this amendment.

It does make a great deal of sense to have the hardship exemption and to give more time for individuals who are injured in war zones and longer deadlines for the paperwork for those individuals who might have trouble submitting the paperwork from a war zone. We are talking about civilian employees who are deployed there. This amendment makes a great deal of sense, and I urge that it be accepted by a voice vote.

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Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I support this amendment. There is an inexcusable backlog at OPM in processing the application for retirement benefits. It has caused real hardships for some retired Federal employees and postal employees. This bill will obviously increase the number of postal employees who will be seeking retirement benefits so I think it is important we have the kind of reporting the Senator from Virginia has proposed.

I urge acceptance of the amendment. I urge it be accepted by the voice vote.

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Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I believe the odds of our getting the 60 votes for final passage are increased if I make my statement later, rather than delivering it right now. I will deliver my statement after the vote, but I do wish to thank Senator Lieberman, Senator Scott Brown, Senator Carper, all the staffs who have worked so hard.

Today, assuming we get those 60 votes, we have proven the Senate can tackle an enormous problem in a bipartisan way and make real progress on an issue that matters to our economy and to the American people.

Thank you, Madam President.

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Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, this is an important victory for the U.S. Postal Service and the American economy.

The Postal Service is the linchpin of a $1.1 trillion mailing and mail-related industry that employs nearly 8.7 million Americans in fields as diverse as mail, printing, catalog companies and paper manufacturing. Those industries and the jobs they sustain are in jeopardy.

The Postal Service lost $13.6 billion over the past two years and has seen a 26 percent drop in first class mail since 2006.

But today we have begun to right the ship.

There is still much work to be done, including working with our colleagues in the House to present the President with a bill he can sign.

Nevertheless, I appreciate the solid bipartisan support that this bill received. It's gratifying that so many of my colleagues understand that the Postal Service should not choose the destructive path of cutting service and raising prices.

This vote sends the message that we can't allow the Postal Service to drive customers away to other communication options. Once they leave the mail system, they won't be coming back, and the Postal Service will be sucked further into a death spiral.

As we move toward a conference with the House, we must continue to resist ill-conceived policy changes. We must avoid short term ``fixes'' that undermine service and thus jeopardize the long-term sustainability of this American institution.

Today's vote is also a win for bipartisanship.

Americans are rightly frustrated about what many feel is a dysfunctional Congress. With enormous problems facing our country and Congress having little to show by way of accomplishments, the process we've just completed on this bill demonstrates that it is sometimes possible for Congress to do more and bicker less.

Today we see what can happen when Republicans and Democrats work together; when Senators from big states and small find common ground. We can achieve important policy for those who sent us here.

I want to thank Senator MCCONNELL for working with us so well to preserve an amendment process that fostered healthy debate and allowed our colleagues to get votes on their priorities. Of course, I must also thank Majority Leader REID for pushing hard to resolve differences in order to create a successful process once the bill was brought to the floor. I know that we would not have had the support that we had for final passage of this bill without the Leaders working together to ensure an amendment process that was fair and reasonable.

As always, Chairman LIEBERMAN's commitment to bipartisanship is unmatched, and it's making him extremely busy and productive in his last year in the Senate. This marks the third bill we have shepherded through to Senate passage in this Congress. I hope to work with him successfully on at least one more bill--cybersecurity.

Senator SCOTT BROWN has already built an impressive record as a key voice for both postal reform and the STOCK Act. I appreciate his partnership on both of these important measures. He has become an independent leader for common sense and I thank him.

I appreciate Senator CARPER's leadership on this bill. We have been working together on postal issues for many years, and I am grateful for his expertise and dedication.

My bipartisan cosponsors and I consulted extensively with postal customers, both business and residential, postal workers, and local communities deeply committed to preserving their postal facilities. We could not have gotten this bill passed through the Senate without their important contributions, cooperation, creativity and support.

This bill would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our staff, and I'd like to recognize some of them personally.

Katy French, John Kane, Katie Adams, and Cassie D'Souza on my staff, have been working for four months as if this bill were coming to the floor the next day. My Committee staff director, Nick Rossi, press secretary, E.R. Anderson, and other members of our team have ably supported them. Justin Stevens on Senator SCOTT BROWN's staff has been an incredible partner as well.

Their colleagues across the aisle were models of hard work and collegiality, and I want to thank them, especially the Chairman's staff, Mike Alexander, Beth Grossman, Kenya Wiley, and Larry Novey, and John Kilvington of Senator CARPER's staff. I know it's been hard work, but the staff have the highest level of professionalism, collegiality, patience with each other and the process and it's made the challenge of bringing this bill to the floor a rewarding one.

Finally, I can't thank enough the long-suffering floor staff, who have been incredibly patient, helpful and have gone out of their way to serve many competing agendas with grace. Thank you especially to David Schiappa with Senator MCCONNELL's staff and his team in the Republican cloakroom, and Gary Myrick and his team, with the Majority Leader.

Our work isn't done. Today is just the first step on a long road ahead. We must move a bill to the President's desk. The House has a bill that awaits floor consideration. We will come together for a conference process. More compromises will have to be made along the way. But we can't forget the urgency of our task--saving the Postal Service for the next generation of Americans.

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