I always look forward to seeing a column in your paper by our senior senator, Susan Collins, like the one published Dec. 29. It is reassuring to know how hard she is fighting for everyday Mainers.

I thank her for her efforts, and I congratulate her on her perfect attendance award. But if she really wanted to stand up for Mainers and all Americans, and prove she is really the bipartisan senator she claims to be, she would declare her support for, and work to pass, the Build Back Better Act put forth by President Biden. Its provisions would improve the lives of millions, while not significantly increasing the deficit.

With the expiration of the child tax credit just this past week, Sen. Collins bears some responsibility for nearly 10 million children in the U.S. sliding back into poverty.

Moreover, Sen. Collins should have her Margaret Chase Smith moment that so many have asked of her in the past, and declare that the 2020 presidential election was fair and honest. She needs to state that any attempt to overturn the election or foster the Big Lie is antidemocratic and wrong.

This is the time for her to back the current voting rights bills that have been stalled in the Senate by the members of her party. Otherwise, she becomes a participant in the slow-motion insurrection taking place across the country that the Press Herald so eloquently highlighted in its edition the following day.

Warner Vaughan
St. George

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