Statement made on 28 October 2009 by Senator Joseph Day
Hon. Joseph A. Day:
Honourable senators, the debate on health care currently raging in the United States has been of great interest to many of us in Canada. One very significant development took place in the U.S. Congress recently with respect to the health care debate that is worthy of note.
Senator Olympia Snowe is a Republican senator representing the state of Maine. She was first elected in 1994 and re-elected more recently in 2006 for a third term in the U.S. Senate. She obtained 74 per cent of the votes cast. In 2001, she became the first Republican woman ever to secure a full term seat on the Senate Finance Committee. Honourable senators will appreciate how valued and sought after such a position on the Senate Finance Committee would be.
Earlier this month, she showed her independence of mind by being the only Republican to vote with 13 Democrats during the Senate Finance Committee vote on health care reform legislation. Senator Snowe describes herself as "a Republican moderate." This is not the first time she has shown her moderation by voting independently. Previously, she had voted for President Obama's economic stimulus and against former President Bush's proposed health care bill, which she felt was inadequate.
Honourable senators, there may be a lesson for each of us in Senator Snowe's independence. She demonstrates that a representative of a region has a primary responsibility to the people she is representing. Usually, she can achieve that goal through her political party affiliation, but not always. Given a choice between the people she represents and her political party, she chose her people and her region. For this, she has come under attack in some quarters, yet she remains one of the most respected and influential senators on Capitol Hill.
Honourable senators, all of us in the Senate of Canada can learn from her courage and conviction.