SENATOR COLLINS ADDRESSES ROTARY CLUB OF BANGOR
U.S. Senator Susan Collins was in Bangor today to address the Rotary Club on her accomplishments of 2011. The following is the text of her address as prepared for delivery.
We are at that special time of year when we look back with a feeling of accomplishment at the challenges we have met, and we look forward with hope to those that lie ahead. As Oprah Winfrey put it, New Year’s is the calendar’s way of telling us we have another chance to get it right. And given all that has gone wrong in Washington this past year, the Administration and Congress certainly should seize the opportunity to get it right.
Despite the gridlock, partisanship, and disappointments, however, I am pleased to report that I achieved some priorities that make a difference to Mainers every day. The first is something you see every time you drive to work, take your kids to school, or cross the street.
Actually, it’s what you don’t see – big trucks rumbling through our downtowns. Now, and for at least the next 20 years, they will be where they belong – on Maine’s federal interstate highways rather than being forced onto our rural roads and downtown streets. This is a win-win-win for public safety, our economy, and the environment.
Changing federal law to allow the heaviest trucks to use Maine's federal interstate highways has always been one of my top priorities. In 2009, I authored a one-year pilot project. This project, which ran through 2010, produced remarkable results in improving safety, helping businesses cut transportation costs, and reducing fuel consumption and emissions. When the pilot project expired near the end of that year, I was determined to extend the law, and ideally, to make it permanent.
In November of last year, as the senior Republican on the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, I negotiated a change in the law that allows trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds to use the federal interstates in Maine for the next 20 years, including I-95, I-195, I-295, and I-395.
This was a bipartisan effort. I worked closely with Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont and this agreement includes a similar change for his state.
Achieving this victory wasn't easy, especially since there was no truck weights provision at all in the House transportation funding bill. For many months, I worked hard to convince my Senate colleagues to support provisions that I wrote to allow these trucks to travel on Maine's interstate highways. But prevailing in the conference negotiations was an even greater challenge given the lack of any House language.
I explained to my colleagues that these same trucks were permitted on interstate highways in neighboring states and provinces, putting Maine at an unfair disadvantage. Not allowing them on our interstates increased the wear-and-tear on our secondary roads, put our businesses at a competitive disadvantage, and most important, jeopardized the safety of drivers and pedestrians in downtown areas. The problem was clearly evident here in Bangor and Brewer.
I-395 connects major state highways that carry significant truck traffic across Maine. Because of the federal limit, heavy trucks were prohibited from using this divided highway. Instead, these trucks had to maneuver through downtown Bangor and Brewer on two-lane roads, with very difficult turns and as many as 20 traffic lights.
The benefits of this change are already evident throughout our region. For example, a truck traveling from Hampden to Houlton on I-95 rather than Route 2 avoids 300 intersections, 86 crosswalks, 30 traffic lights, nine school crossings and four railroad crossings. It does not have to drive through busy downtowns like Bangor, Orono, Old Town, and Lincoln.
The support of many public safety groups, including the Maine State Police, the Maine Departments of Transportation and Public Safety, and leaders like Bangor Police Chief Ron Gastia was critical to my success in persuading my colleagues.
So, too, were educators. A letter from Bangor Superintendant Betsy Webb describing the threat heavy trucks presented to children walking to school was powerful evidence. Another member of this club, Dan McKay, and his wife, Nancy, wrote a compelling letter about the constant worry among parents in the Hammond Street neighborhood. That kind of support made all the difference in helping me counter the contention of national safety groups that somehow allowing the heaviest trucks to use the interstate highways was less safe.
During the difficult conference negotiations with the House, one of the conferees said to me, “Susan, if I finally agree to your position, would you please stop giving me more letters and charts on truck weights?”
Another satisfying accomplishment was stopping an ill-conceived government regulation so that we could still serve good, nutritious, and affordable Maine potatoes in our school cafeterias.
Early in 2011, the potato came under attack from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through a proposed rule to limit servings of a category of vegetables that includes white potatoes, green peas, lima beans, and corn, to a total of one cup per week in the National School Lunch Program. The rule also would have banned these vegetables from the School Breakfast Program.
This would have meant that if a school served baked potatoes on Monday, it could not serve corn or potatoes in any form for the rest of the week. I’m not making this up. This was Washington overreach at its worst.
A school lunch director in York County told me that her schools serve a baked potato bar with healthy low-fat toppings like salsa, vegetarian chili, and broccoli with low-fat cheese. She pointed out that if she had this baked potato bar on Monday, she could not serve fish chowder on Friday because it contained potatoes. A truly absurd result.
And an expensive result as well: the USDA’s own estimate was that this rule could have cost as much as $6.8 billion over five years. The lion’s share of these costs would have fallen on states, local school systems, and families.
Worst of all, the proposed rule would have limited a good source of several “nutrients of concern” the USDA had cited as significantly lacking in the American diet, such as potassium and dietary fiber. For example, potatoes have more potassium than bananas. Potatoes are cholesterol-free, low in fat and sodium, high in fiber and vitamins, and can be served in countless healthy ways.
This kind of regulatory overreach just didn’t make sense. So, along with Democratic Senator Mark Udall of Colorado, I offered a successful amendment to the USDA funding bill to stop this arbitrary limitation, while requiring that school meals be consistent with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
I still wonder why, with all the challenges facing American agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture decided to pick on the potato.
In looking ahead to 2012, I am reminded of the New Year’s advice offered by Maine’s great gift to poetry, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: “Mourn not the past, fear not the future, but wisely face the present.”
The greatest challenge before our nation is not some approaching threat on the distant horizon, but the here and now. Mainers, like so many Americans, are frustrated that our nation’s unemployment rate remains unacceptably high. They are frustrated that people who want to work can’t find good jobs.
But most damaging is the frustration that Washington can’t seem to set aside partisan bickering long enough to agree on a plan to spur job creation and boost our economy. Solutions are within reach if those in Washington will work across party lines.
Late last year I joined with my Democratic colleague, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, to introduce the Bipartisan Jobs Creation Act. That simple, straightforward title says it all – we can restore growth and renew opportunity if we work together.
We recognized that a bridge to economic recovery must be a bipartisan bridge, so we set aside party differences and sat down together to come up with a solution acceptable to both of us.
First, taxes. In addition to reducing taxes for workers, we propose that the 2-percent payroll tax cut be extended to employers on the first $10 million of payroll. This will help small businesses, the backbone of our nation’s economy and our job creators.
Second, infrastructure. Our plan would invest in rebuilding our nation’s crumbling roads and bridges, and water and sewer systems. This would create good jobs and help provide the critical infrastructure needed for economic growth.
Third, sensible regulatory reform. We would require federal agencies to analyze the cost and benefits of proposed regulations, including the impact on job creation, the cost of energy, and consumer prices. This will help cut the tangle of red tape that is holding businesses back from expanding and adding jobs.
Fourth, job training. We want to consolidate and improve the effectiveness of federal job training programs to focus on what really works and what most directly benefits job seekers.
Senator McCaskill and I also agree that we cannot put America on the path to recovery by adding to our $15-trillion national debt. Our plan is fully paid for through two provisions. The first is a two-percent surtax on those who make more than a million dollars, but with a crucial exemption to protect small business owner-operators, such as those who file as “subchapter S” corporations and pay their taxes on their individual income tax returns.
We must not impose additional taxes on job creators who are so critical to our economic recovery. The exemption we propose would shield small businesses from tax increases that would make it more difficult for them to grow and add jobs.
The second provision to generate revenue to pay for our plan is the repeal of unwarranted tax breaks for the five largest oil companies. These tax breaks amount to billions of dollars each year.
Mainers tell me they're tired of the partisan gridlock in Washington. I know that Senator McCaskill hears the same concerns across Missouri. Working together in a bipartisan spirit, I believe we can replace the current frustration with the optimism that is the true American spirit.
###
We are at that special time of year when we look back with a feeling of accomplishment at the challenges we have met, and we look forward with hope to those that lie ahead. As Oprah Winfrey put it, New Year’s is the calendar’s way of telling us we have another chance to get it right. And given all that has gone wrong in Washington this past year, the Administration and Congress certainly should seize the opportunity to get it right.
Despite the gridlock, partisanship, and disappointments, however, I am pleased to report that I achieved some priorities that make a difference to Mainers every day. The first is something you see every time you drive to work, take your kids to school, or cross the street.
Actually, it’s what you don’t see – big trucks rumbling through our downtowns. Now, and for at least the next 20 years, they will be where they belong – on Maine’s federal interstate highways rather than being forced onto our rural roads and downtown streets. This is a win-win-win for public safety, our economy, and the environment.
Changing federal law to allow the heaviest trucks to use Maine's federal interstate highways has always been one of my top priorities. In 2009, I authored a one-year pilot project. This project, which ran through 2010, produced remarkable results in improving safety, helping businesses cut transportation costs, and reducing fuel consumption and emissions. When the pilot project expired near the end of that year, I was determined to extend the law, and ideally, to make it permanent.
In November of last year, as the senior Republican on the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, I negotiated a change in the law that allows trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds to use the federal interstates in Maine for the next 20 years, including I-95, I-195, I-295, and I-395.
This was a bipartisan effort. I worked closely with Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont and this agreement includes a similar change for his state.
Achieving this victory wasn't easy, especially since there was no truck weights provision at all in the House transportation funding bill. For many months, I worked hard to convince my Senate colleagues to support provisions that I wrote to allow these trucks to travel on Maine's interstate highways. But prevailing in the conference negotiations was an even greater challenge given the lack of any House language.
I explained to my colleagues that these same trucks were permitted on interstate highways in neighboring states and provinces, putting Maine at an unfair disadvantage. Not allowing them on our interstates increased the wear-and-tear on our secondary roads, put our businesses at a competitive disadvantage, and most important, jeopardized the safety of drivers and pedestrians in downtown areas. The problem was clearly evident here in Bangor and Brewer.
I-395 connects major state highways that carry significant truck traffic across Maine. Because of the federal limit, heavy trucks were prohibited from using this divided highway. Instead, these trucks had to maneuver through downtown Bangor and Brewer on two-lane roads, with very difficult turns and as many as 20 traffic lights.
The benefits of this change are already evident throughout our region. For example, a truck traveling from Hampden to Houlton on I-95 rather than Route 2 avoids 300 intersections, 86 crosswalks, 30 traffic lights, nine school crossings and four railroad crossings. It does not have to drive through busy downtowns like Bangor, Orono, Old Town, and Lincoln.
The support of many public safety groups, including the Maine State Police, the Maine Departments of Transportation and Public Safety, and leaders like Bangor Police Chief Ron Gastia was critical to my success in persuading my colleagues.
So, too, were educators. A letter from Bangor Superintendant Betsy Webb describing the threat heavy trucks presented to children walking to school was powerful evidence. Another member of this club, Dan McKay, and his wife, Nancy, wrote a compelling letter about the constant worry among parents in the Hammond Street neighborhood. That kind of support made all the difference in helping me counter the contention of national safety groups that somehow allowing the heaviest trucks to use the interstate highways was less safe.
During the difficult conference negotiations with the House, one of the conferees said to me, “Susan, if I finally agree to your position, would you please stop giving me more letters and charts on truck weights?”
Another satisfying accomplishment was stopping an ill-conceived government regulation so that we could still serve good, nutritious, and affordable Maine potatoes in our school cafeterias.
Early in 2011, the potato came under attack from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through a proposed rule to limit servings of a category of vegetables that includes white potatoes, green peas, lima beans, and corn, to a total of one cup per week in the National School Lunch Program. The rule also would have banned these vegetables from the School Breakfast Program.
This would have meant that if a school served baked potatoes on Monday, it could not serve corn or potatoes in any form for the rest of the week. I’m not making this up. This was Washington overreach at its worst.
A school lunch director in York County told me that her schools serve a baked potato bar with healthy low-fat toppings like salsa, vegetarian chili, and broccoli with low-fat cheese. She pointed out that if she had this baked potato bar on Monday, she could not serve fish chowder on Friday because it contained potatoes. A truly absurd result.
And an expensive result as well: the USDA’s own estimate was that this rule could have cost as much as $6.8 billion over five years. The lion’s share of these costs would have fallen on states, local school systems, and families.
Worst of all, the proposed rule would have limited a good source of several “nutrients of concern” the USDA had cited as significantly lacking in the American diet, such as potassium and dietary fiber. For example, potatoes have more potassium than bananas. Potatoes are cholesterol-free, low in fat and sodium, high in fiber and vitamins, and can be served in countless healthy ways.
This kind of regulatory overreach just didn’t make sense. So, along with Democratic Senator Mark Udall of Colorado, I offered a successful amendment to the USDA funding bill to stop this arbitrary limitation, while requiring that school meals be consistent with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
I still wonder why, with all the challenges facing American agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture decided to pick on the potato.
In looking ahead to 2012, I am reminded of the New Year’s advice offered by Maine’s great gift to poetry, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: “Mourn not the past, fear not the future, but wisely face the present.”
The greatest challenge before our nation is not some approaching threat on the distant horizon, but the here and now. Mainers, like so many Americans, are frustrated that our nation’s unemployment rate remains unacceptably high. They are frustrated that people who want to work can’t find good jobs.
But most damaging is the frustration that Washington can’t seem to set aside partisan bickering long enough to agree on a plan to spur job creation and boost our economy. Solutions are within reach if those in Washington will work across party lines.
Late last year I joined with my Democratic colleague, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, to introduce the Bipartisan Jobs Creation Act. That simple, straightforward title says it all – we can restore growth and renew opportunity if we work together.
We recognized that a bridge to economic recovery must be a bipartisan bridge, so we set aside party differences and sat down together to come up with a solution acceptable to both of us.
First, taxes. In addition to reducing taxes for workers, we propose that the 2-percent payroll tax cut be extended to employers on the first $10 million of payroll. This will help small businesses, the backbone of our nation’s economy and our job creators.
Second, infrastructure. Our plan would invest in rebuilding our nation’s crumbling roads and bridges, and water and sewer systems. This would create good jobs and help provide the critical infrastructure needed for economic growth.
Third, sensible regulatory reform. We would require federal agencies to analyze the cost and benefits of proposed regulations, including the impact on job creation, the cost of energy, and consumer prices. This will help cut the tangle of red tape that is holding businesses back from expanding and adding jobs.
Fourth, job training. We want to consolidate and improve the effectiveness of federal job training programs to focus on what really works and what most directly benefits job seekers.
Senator McCaskill and I also agree that we cannot put America on the path to recovery by adding to our $15-trillion national debt. Our plan is fully paid for through two provisions. The first is a two-percent surtax on those who make more than a million dollars, but with a crucial exemption to protect small business owner-operators, such as those who file as “subchapter S” corporations and pay their taxes on their individual income tax returns.
We must not impose additional taxes on job creators who are so critical to our economic recovery. The exemption we propose would shield small businesses from tax increases that would make it more difficult for them to grow and add jobs.
The second provision to generate revenue to pay for our plan is the repeal of unwarranted tax breaks for the five largest oil companies. These tax breaks amount to billions of dollars each year.
Mainers tell me they're tired of the partisan gridlock in Washington. I know that Senator McCaskill hears the same concerns across Missouri. Working together in a bipartisan spirit, I believe we can replace the current frustration with the optimism that is the true American spirit.
###
