ORONO, Maine —- U.S. Sen. Susan Collins went to the University of Maine Tuesday to talk about civility in politics and society, but last week’s headlines dominated her pre-speech press conference with local reporters.
The Republican senator weighed in on the dispute over whether the Maine Army National Guard 133rd Engineer Battalion should transition to the infantry, the proposed national park in the Katahdin region and whether she’ll make a run for the Blaine House in 2018.
“I don’t understand or agree with the administration’s plan to reduce the size of the Army disproportionately in a way that affects the National Guard,” she said. “It is far less expensive to have National Guard units deploy than it is to have full-time active units deploy. I question the Army’s overall plan to decrease National Guard units.”
Collins said it was up to the governor and the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C., to decide what the appropriate units are for the state of Maine.
On the subject of a proposed national park for the Katahdin region, the senator said she would reconsider her opposition but only under certain circumstances.
“If the people of the region believe that their future lies in a national park, obviously I would be open to their views,” Collins said. “Right now, I don’t hear that kind of consensus. I hear a lot of division about what the future of the Katahdin region should be.”
She also said that she has concerns about federal ownership of such a large amount of land in Maine.
As for the speculation that she will run for governor in 2018, Collins said she was focused on her job in the Senate, not her next race.
“I have just been re-elected this last fall,” she said. “I am extremely busy in Washington. I’ve picked up an additional committee, so I now serve on four different committees.
“I can tell you I am not at all focused on my re-election or future campaigns or what I might run for,” she said. “It’s just way too early to be thinking about that.”
About 500 people, including students, faculty, staff and long-time Collins supporters attended the Margaret Chase Smith Public Affairs Lecture, where she was the keynote speaker. She urged attendees to demand civil discourse from their elected officials but also said that she and her colleagues must change.
“In Washington, we who represent the people of this great nation must put progress over partisanship, statesmanship over stridency, and compromise over conflict,” she said. “That would produce a very different legislative climate, one in which the objective is to solve the problem, not just to score political points.
“If I am correct that a return to civility and a spirit of compromise must be driven by concerned citizens, then you will have to lead the way,” the senator told the crowd. “That means working in your community for a renewed social climate characterized by civility and respect for differing viewpoints.”
The senator ended her speech with a reference to Smith, whom Collins first met in Washington, D.C., when she was an 18-year-old high school senior. Now, Collins sits at her mentor’s desk on the Senate floor.
“The challenge we face today was recognized by Sen. Margaret Chase Smith in her ‘Declaration of Conscience’ 65 years ago,” Collins said. “While she avidly supported her party, she did not want to it ride to political victory with the ‘Four Horsemen of Calumny — Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.’ Let us put those four out to pasture, and saddle up the one called ‘Civility.’ We might be surprised at how far it will take us.”
Visit bangordailynews.com to read the full text of Collins’ speech.