Reporting from Washington -- The nation's postmaster general says delivering mail six days a week may no longer be feasible for an agency facing deficits in the billions.

John E. Potter told a congressional panel Wednesday that cutting mail delivery by one day a week may be necessary to curb a projected loss of more than $6 billion for this fiscal year. He asked a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee to lift the six-day delivery requirement mandated in 1983.

"It is possible that the cost of six-day delivery may simply prove to be unaffordable," he said.

But the proposal was not well received by some subcommittee members.

Potter also asked that Congress alter the postal service's payment schedule for funding retiree health benefits, which he described as a "crippling cost burden."