Letter to the editor: Another round of applause for Sens. Collins and King on health care

from the Portland Press Herald, August 3, 2017

Sen. Susan Collins deserves our thanks for putting people above politics. By bucking her political party and voting along with Sen. Angus King to oppose the “skinny repeal” of the Affordable Care Act, she showed that our two senators are committed to providing health care to Mainers who are the most vulnerable – the poor, the elderly and the disabled.
Our senators have listened, and paid attention, to Mainers whose real-life medical problems and financial circumstances are not just data points tossed around in political debate.
At the Maine Council of Churches, we advocate for those quiet voices who are not often heard in the cacophony of calls for tax cuts, a border wall and bigger and better weapons of destruction.
We recognize the ACA needs work, but we appreciate that Sens. Collins and King want to tackle revisions in a thoughtful and comprehensive way through a bipartisan process.
We are particularly grateful that Sen. Collins had the courage and integrity to withstand intense pressure from her peers over a number of weeks. In contrast, her homecoming to Bangor was much more supportive. For the first time in her 20 years in the Senate, she was greeted by spontaneous applause as she walked off the plane. The response was well deserved.

Bonny Rodden
president, Maine Council of Churches
Falmouth