SENATORS SNOWE, COLLINS ANNOUNCE $35 MILLION TO EXTEND DOWNEASTER RAIL SERVICE TO BRUNSWICK

Recovery Act funding will be used to upgrade 30 miles of track between Portland and Brunswick


Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) $35 million in High-Speed Rail Grants to be used to rehabilitate 30 miles of track to extend Amtrak’s Downeaster rail service from Portland to Brunswick.

“This is welcome news to Mainers and visitors alike,” said Senators Snowe and Collins in a joint statement. “Since its inception, the Downeaster service has enjoyed steady ridership increases, providing tremendous benefits to Maine, including reducing road congestion, cleaner air, commuting options, and easier access to the state for tourists and economic development opportunities for businesses and communities. Extending this critical rail service to Brunswick will not only build upon the these successes but also create jobs and further boost tourism in the Midcoast region, giving the Brunswick area, which is coping with the closure of Brunswick Naval Air Station, a much-needed economic shot in the arm.”

Patricia Quinn, Executive Director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority said, “The expansion of Downeaster service to Brunswick will have a lasting impact on Maine and on northern New England. In addition to making the Downeaster service more viable and efficient, it will create jobs, generate tourism, stimulate economic development and provide greater connectivity and mobility throughout the region. This is an exciting time for passenger rail in America, and we are honored to be included in the first round of this investment package.”

The funding is being distributed by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which Senators Snowe and Collins worked to craft with a bipartisan group of senators last year. According to the NNEPRA, the expansion of Downeaster Service north to Freeport and Brunswick will further increase ridership by tens of thousands of individuals and take millions of passenger miles off Maine roads every year. Significantly, it enhances the efficiency of the service by reducing operating costs on a per passenger basis and maximizing the utility of existing equipment and labor pools. In addition to transportation benefits, expanding the Downeaster to Freeport and Brunswick will provide significant economic benefits to the region both in the near term and for years to come. It will support tourism, Maine’s largest industry, by creating a link between Boston and downtown Freeport, encouraging private development, potentially creating hundreds of jobs, and offers critical support to the redevelopment efforts that are ongoing at the Brunswick Naval Air Station, all the while providing connectivity to mid-coast Maine.

SENATOR COLLINS ANNOUNCES NEARLY $600,000 FOR TWELVE MAINE FIRE DEPARTMENTS

Albion, Arrowsic, Sebago, Bangor, North Lakes, Hodgdon, Jackman, Litchfield, Mapleton, Passadumkeag, Gouldsboro and Stoneham to Receive Assistance to Firefighter Grants

U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, today announced that the Department of Homeland Security has awarded $592,810 in grant funding to eleven Maine fire departments. The funding is provided through the "Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program," or FIRE Act.



“Our career and volunteer firefighters are among our bravest public servants. The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program is an extremely critical source of funds for our fire and rescue personnel,” said Senator Collins. “Since the creation of this program, Maine fire departments have been awarded more than $50 million to help purchase new, used, or refurbished vehicles, and to obtain equipment for firefighting, interoperable communications, chemical detection, and other purposes that are essential to first responders.”



The following fire departments is being awarded funding through the Vehicle Acquisition Program, which helps local departments purchase equipment such as pumpers, brush trucks, tankers/tenders, rescue vehicles, ambulances, aerials, foam units and fire boats.



o Arrowsic Fire Department--- $190,000

o Litchfield Fire Department-- $118,750



Additionally, funding will be distributed to the following Maine fire departments through the Operations and Firefighting Safety Program, which consists of training, equipment, wellness and fitness, and modifications to the departments’ facilities.



o Albion Volunteer Fire Department-- $70,728

o Sebago Fire Department--$19,252

o Bangor Fire Department-- $36,000

o North Lakes Fire Department (Aroostook County)-- $36,100

o Hodgdon Fire Department-- $38,000

o Jackman-Moose River Fire Department-- $7,410

o Mapleton Fire Department-- $34,675

o Passadumkeag Fire Department-- $19,095

o Gouldsboro Fire Department-- $12,540

o Stoneham Fire Department-- $10,260







Senator Collins strongly supported the creation of the FIRE Act Grant program. These grants are awarded to fire departments across the United States to increase the effectiveness of firefighting operations, firefighter health and safety programs, emergency medical service programs, and Fire Prevention and Safety programs, and to purchase new fire equipment.

Senators Pressure Federal Agencies to Develop Safe, Swift Evacuation of Orphan Children In Haiti

U.S. Senator Susan Collins joined a bipartisan group of 15 Senators and 35 House members in sending a letter to the Obama Administration asking for greater collaboration between the federal agencies in an effort to evacuate the 600 to 700 orphans who have been granted humanitarian parole. In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Designate Rajiv Shah, these members of Congress stressed the need for a plan to swiftly evacuate orphans safely to their adoptive U.S. families.

The letter was co-signed by Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Michael Bennet (D-CO.), Kit Bond (R-MO), Robert Casey Jr. (D-PA), John Ensign (R-NV), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), John McCain (R-AZ), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ben Nelson (D-NE), and Mark Udall (D-CO).

“In our view, the chaos that has ensued is a direct result of a lack of logistical inter-agency coordination, a lack of communication to the public, and ad-hoc processing of travel documents by the U.S. Embassy,” the members of Congress wrote. “Therefore, we are writing to ask for your personal assurances that the State Department, in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Agency on International Development, puts in place a plan to directly ensure that ALL of the 600-700 orphans affected by Monday's announcement of humanitarian parole are safely and efficiently evacuated within the next ten days.”

On January 18, 2010, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would extend humanitarian parole to those Haitian orphans with established adoptive relationships with U.S. adoptive families so that these orphans could travel immediately to the United States.

However, in the three days following the announcement, federal agencies have yet to put forth a coordinated logistical plan to assure these orphans’ immediate safety, efficient immigration processing and exit to the U.S. Without such a plan, American citizens will put themselves or the children they are seeking to adopt at risk in attempting an evacuation, the Senators argued.

“Over the past four days, we, along with several other congressional offices have been urging State Department, USAID and Homeland Security officials to consider the consequences of making this announcement without a plan that ensured safe and efficient processing and travel for these children,” the letter says. “Despite our best efforts, over 350 American families are now desperate and many are trying to independently evacuate their children. At the same time, orphanage directors, who are also lacking the information and support they need to protect the children in their care, are leaving the orphanages in search of help.”

“Understandably, families are anxious to bring their children to the United States where they can personally assure their safety, said Kathleen Strottman, Executive Director of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI). “If they are not given the benefit of a clear U.S. government led plan to do that, then they will come up with one of their own. Given the situation on ground, it is in no one’s best interest for 350 or so American families to be planning individual rescue missions.”

Senator Collins' statement on Scott Brown's election

Senator Collins released the following statement about the election of Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate:

“I congratulate Scott Brown on his victory in Massachusetts and look forward to welcoming him to the United States Senate. This election is an indication that voters in Massachusetts, indeed a majority of Americans, want checks and balances and do not support unfettered, one-party rule in Washington. The results of this election also reflect the fact that so many people are appalled at the process by which the health care bill was negotiated behind closed doors, rammed through the Senate with limited debate and amendments, and riddled with special deals to garner votes. People are frustrated with these tactics. They want their elected officials to set partisan politics aside and work together to forge solutions to the many challenges facing our country, particularly the need to strengthen the economy.”

Collins and Lieberman to hold hearings in wake of Christmas Day terrorist attack

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., and Ranking Member Susan Collins, R-Me., Friday announced the witness list for the first in a series of hearings the Committee will hold to discuss how to further improve the nation’s security in light of the Christmas Day terrorist attack.
The Committee will hear from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, and National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter on Wednesday, January 20, on the intelligence reforms recommended by the 9/11 Commission in its final report on the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“We are grateful to Secretary Napolitano, Director Blair and Director Leiter for agreeing to testify before our Committee to discuss the reforms made after 9/11 relevant to the Christmas Day attack, including changes in areas such as intelligence analysis, information sharing, watch-listing, border security and aviation security,” Senator Lieberman said. “We are especially interested in the progress of the intelligence reforms that were made in 2004 in response to the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations, including the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Counterterrorism Center.
“As the President noted, while enforcement and intelligence communities have worked successfully together to disrupt several plots against our country, the intelligence to discover and disrupt the plot, masterminded by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was available to our government. But it was not pieced together. We will ask Admiral Blair and Director Leiter why the intelligence community was unable to bring together pieces of intelligence held by various agencies to detect this plot and whether the DNI and NCTC have the authority to integrate the intelligence community into a single, integrated enterprise.
“From Secretary Napolitano, we will want to know how - even after reforms designed to prevent it - Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was able to exploit passenger pre-screening systems and the international aviation security system to board a plane bound for the United States with an explosive device.”
Senator Collins said: “Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and enactment of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, much has been done to improve the performance of our intelligence, homeland security, and law enforcement agencies. Bureaucratic stovepipes that precluded information sharing have been dismantled, and collaboration has increased. As a direct result of these reforms, terrorist plots, both at home and abroad, have been thwarted.
“But human error, poor judgments, outmoded systems, and the sheer volume of data can still cause failures in the government’s ability to detect and detect terrorist plots as the recent attacks at Fort Hood and on Christmas Day demonstrate.

Video: Senator Collins to vote against Senate health care bill

Senator Collins to vote against health care legislation

Says bill fails to reduce costs and will hurt Maine's seniors, health care providers, and small businesses

U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced today her decision to vote against the final health care bill unveiled by Majority Leader Harry Reid on Saturday. Following is her statement:

"Our nation’s health care system requires substantial reform. The status quo of soaring health care costs, families struggling, millions uninsured, and health care provider shortages is unacceptable. That is why I am so disappointed that the partisan legislation before the Senate falls far short of what should be the goals of reform. This bill will actually increase health care costs, impose billions in new taxes, fees, and penalties, and hurt our seniors, health care providers, and small businesses. I simply cannot support such a bill.

"It is particularly disappointing that the bill does not do enough to rein in the cost of health care and to provide consumers with more affordable choices. Whether I am talking to a self-employed fisherman, a laid-off worker, the owner of a struggling small business, or the human resource manager of a large company, the soaring cost of health insurance is a primary concern. Yet, the government's own actuary projects that health care costs will be higher as a result of this bill than under current law.

"I am deeply opposed to the nearly $500 billion in cuts to Medicare – a program that already has long-term financing problems. It is fiscally irresponsible to raid Medicare to pay for a new entitlement program at a time when the number of Medicare beneficiaries is on the rise.

"It makes no sense that the bill would slash more than $47 billion in payments to home health and hospice providers. That is completely contrary to the goal of controlling health care costs because home care and hospice services have consistently proven to be cost-effective alternatives to institutional care.

"According to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Actuary, these deep cuts could push one in five hospitals, nursing homes, and home health providers into the red. Many of these providers would simply stop taking Medicare patients, which would jeopardize access to care for millions of seniors.

"The comments of the Chief Executive Officer of Central Maine Healthcare, reflect what I have heard from many of Maine's health care providers about this bill. He told me that its passage would be 'disastrous' for Maine and would saddle our hospitals with some $800 million in Medicare cuts over the next ten years.

"Aside from the devastating cuts in Medicare, additional financing for this bill comes through an array of new taxes, penalties, and fees on individuals, employers, insurance providers, and medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation have testified that these costs will simply be passed on to consumers, further increasing the costs of health care for many Americans – the opposite of what health care reform should produce.

"And there is a four-year gap between when billions of new taxes and fees are imposed and when the new subsidies go into effect. The bill would provide fewer and more expensive insurance choices for many self-employed individuals who will not qualify for subsidies.

"The detrimental impact of this bill on small businesses, our nation's job creators, concerns me greatly. This bill would discourage small businesses from hiring more employees and paying them better. It could lead to onerous financial penalties on small businesses that are already struggling to provide health insurance for their employees.

"Small businesses want to provide health insurance for their employees, but many simply cannot afford to absorb double-digit increases in their health insurance premiums year after year. The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business association, says this bill does too little to reduce insurance costs, imposes new taxes, establishes new entitlement programs, and creates new mandates that will burden small business owners and their employees. In short, the NFIB says, 'the Senate bill fails small business.' I agree.

"To remedy some of these fundamental problems, I worked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to offer significant bipartisan amendments aimed at containing costs, helping small businesses, increasing affordability, and providing more choices for consumers. Unfortunately, we were precluded from offering our amendments due to procedural roadblocks.

"It is unfair that Republicans were allowed to offer only seven amendments to a bill that affects every single citizen and one-sixth of our nation’s economy.

"The health care legislation before the Senate has enormous consequences for our economy and our society. The Senate missed the opportunity to produce true, bipartisan health reform. Unfortunately, the process became too divisive and partisan, and the result is a bill that takes us in the wrong direction and will do more harm than good. Keeping in mind the oath every physician takes to 'first, do no harm,' I will cast my vote against this legislation."