Mainebiz

V O L . X X V N O. I X A P R I L 2 9 , 2 0 1 9 62 25 W hen the first issue of Mainebiz came out in December 1994, Angus King had just been elected Maine's governor after running as an independent. He won a four-way race against opponents that included Republican Susan Collins, then Maine's commis- sioner of professional and financial regulation under Gov. John McKernan and a relatively unknown protégé of U.S. Sen. William Cohen. Today, King and Collins represent Maine in the U.S. Senate, the latest in a long line of moderate lawmak- ers helping the Pine Tree State punch above its weight in the corridors of power in Washington, D.C. e template was set by Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to serve in both the House and the Senate and the first to represent Maine in either. A moderate Republican from Skowhegan, she made a speech in June 1950 that amounted to a rebel- lion against McCarthyism. Known as the "Declaration of Conscience," she said the basic principles of being an American included the right to criti- cize and hold unpopular beliefs, and the right to protest. Edmund Muskie was also a major figure. en came George Mitchell, a Waterville Democrat who served as U.S. senator from 1980 to 1995. During his time as Senate majority leader from 1989 to 1995, the Senate approved the North American Free Trade Agreement and passed landmark legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. After retiring from the Senate, Mitchell remained in the political spotlight as the main architect of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland and as U.S. special envoy for Middle East Peace under President Barack Obama. Mitchell later led a 20-month investigation into the use of perfor- mance-enhancing drugs by Major League Baseball players. It ended with a 400-page study, informally known as the Mitchell Report, naming 89 players alleged to have used steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. From Olympia Snowe to modern times Olympia Snowe, a Republican sena- tor from 1995 to 2013, was known for her strong sense of bipartisanship and in 2006 was named one of America's best senators by Time magazine, which called her "e Caretaker." Since leaving the Senate in 2013, Snowe has gone on to speak nationally about the need for bipartisanship and has committed to helping nur- ture future generations of young women through the Olympia Snowe Women's Leadership Institute. On April 3, Collins presented Snowe with the Women Making History Award in Washington, D.C., and lauded Snowe's outstanding reputation as an informed and effective legislator. Collins was first elected to the Senate in 1996. During the Trump presi- dency, King and Collins have developed national followings, as attested to by their frequent appearances on network and cable television current-affairs shows. King is having an easier time politically, having been reelected to another six-year Senate term in 2018. For Collins, the last Republican sena- tor in New England, the fight for a fifth term in 2020 is just getting under way. Democrats sense an opportu- nity to oust her, accusing Collins of betraying her moderate principles by voting for Trump's tax cuts and to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. Renee Cordes, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at rcordes @ mainebiz.biz Recent history in the U.S. Senate A legacy of moderate voices representing Mainers in Washington B y R e n e e C o r d e s S E N AT O R S Maine has had a long line of moderate lawmakers helping the Pine Tree State punch above its weight in the corridors of power in Washington. Susan Collins during the 1994 Maine Gubernatorial debate. George Mitchell was Senate majority leader from 1989-95. Angus King, who served as governor for two terms, was elected to a second Senate term in 2018. S C R E E N S H O T / C - S PA N P H O T O / O F F I C E O F U. S. S E N . A N G U S K I N G

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