Susan Collins
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Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7 1952 in Caribou, Maine) is the junior U.S. Senator from Maine and a Republican.
Collins is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of St. Lawrence University. She worked for Senator William Cohen from 1975 until 1987, when she became chairman of the Maine commission on financial regulation. She served in this position until 1992, when she briefly served as New England regional director of the National Small Business Administration. She then moved to Massachusetts and served as its Deputy Treasurer in 1993, but then moved back to Maine. She was the Republican candidate in the Maine gubernatorial election of 1994, but both she and the Democrat, former Governor Joe Brennan were defeated by the Independent candidate, Angus King. When Senator Cohen announced his retirement, Collins announced her Senate candidacy, and after a difficult three-way primary she defeated Democrat Joe Brennan in the general election. She was reelected in 2002 over State Senator Chellie Pingree (D) 58% - 42%.
Senator Collins is a moderate, if not a liberal, by Republican standards. She is in favor of protecting a woman's right to have an abortion, and for having more federal funding for health coverage.
On May 23, 2005, Collins was one of fourteen moderate senators to forge a compromise on the Democrats' use of the judicial filibuster, thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the so-called "nuclear option". Under the agreement, the Democrats would retain the power to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee only in an "extraordinary circumstance", and the three most conservative Bush appellate court nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor) would receive a vote by the full Senate.
External links
- Official website (http://collins.senate.gov/)
| Preceded by: William Cohen | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Maine 1997- | Succeeded by: Incumbent Template:End box Template:Maine Congressional Delegation Template:Current U.S. Senatorsja:スーザン・コリンズ |