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Susan Collins is Maine’s senior U.S. senator.
Maine is my home. I was born and raised in Aroostook County, and one of my first jobs was picking potatoes. That’s where I learned the values of hard work, serving others, and keeping my commitments. These values have shaped my life and guided my service in the U.S. Senate.
My top priority has always been to solve problems and improve the lives of my fellow Mainers. I have never missed a single roll call vote to ensure that Maine is always represented.
We need more, not fewer, people in Washington who are focused on getting things done. I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish because of my experience and willingness to work with Republicans and Democrats alike to achieve results.
In the Senate, experience and seniority make a real difference. Since joining the Appropriations Committee in 2009 and becoming chairman of the Transportation and Housing Subcommittee, I have secured nearly $750 million to build, repair, and replace Maine’s bridges, roads, seaports, and airports. Maine ranks first, on a per capita basis, in transportation funding through the highly competitive BUILD grant program — and that’s not a coincidence.
As a senior member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I’ve also secured $16 billion for Bath Iron Works and $320 million for improvements at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, according to the Federal Procurement Data System, protecting thousands of jobs and ensuring a steady workload. I’ve advocated for historic funding levels for lead paint remediation to safeguard the health of children and for biomedical research to fight such devastating diseases as Alzheimer’s, cancer, and diabetes.
I saved the potato in the federal school lunch and breakfast programs. My advocacy has helped Maine’s veterans homes and supported programs that have reduced homelessness among veterans by 49 percent. Maine’s rural schools have received an extra $50 million due to a law I wrote.
I’m in line to become the next leader of the Appropriations Committee, the most powerful committee position in the Senate. No Maine senator has held this position since 1933. I would oversee hundreds of billions of dollars for federal agencies and projects, allowing Maine to punch well above its weight and receive even more critically important federal funding.
As your senator, I have had many important legislative successes that have benefited both our state and the nation. Early in my Senate service, I repealed a $50 billion tax break for big tobacco companies. After the 9/11 attacks, I wrote the law that enacted the most sweeping changes to our intelligence agencies since World War II, making our country safer. Following Hurricane Katrina, I led the extensive investigations that provided assistance and strengthened America’s emergency response.
In 2013 and 2018, I worked with members of both parties to lead our country out of partisan government shutdowns. And this year, in a global pandemic and economic crisis, I wrote the Paycheck Protection Program that has provided 28,000 Maine small businesses with $2.3 billion in forgivable loans, helping to sustain paychecks, including benefits, for more than 250,000 Maine workers.
As chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, I have authored laws to lower the cost of prescription drugs and to protect older Americans from scams targeting their savings. I have led the fight to protect Social Security and Medicare. I’ve been a steadfast champion for the nearly 600,000 Mainers who live with one or more pre-existing conditions, as my deciding vote to preserve the Affordable Care Act demonstrates.
I know what it takes to get things done — the bipartisan, commonsense approach I learned growing up here in Maine. For the past seven years in a row, the Lugar Center and Georgetown University have ranked me as the most bipartisan senator.
Common sense Maine values and a love of my state guide my public service. I have always put Maine people first, and I always will.