Senate leaders recognized Sen. Susan Collins of Maine on Thursday for her perfect attendance record, casting 6,000 consecutive votes without missing a single one during her 18-year tenure.
Ms. Collins, a Republican who’s served since 1997, received a thunderous round of applause on the chamber floor ahead of a vote Thursday related to President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, noted that former Sen. Margaret Chase Smith of Maine cast nearly 3,000 straight votes before surgery kept her from one.
“And yet, I’m not sure surgery, a tsunami, or the most wicked Maine nor’easter could stop the woman who occupies Margaret Chase Smith’s seat today,” Mr. McConnell said. “Because not only is the senior senator from Maine a fierce admirer of her pioneering predecessor, she’s also nearly unstoppable once she’s put her mind to something.”
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, and Sen. Angus King, Maine independent, also paid her compliments from the floor.
Recognition of her feat comes as Senate attendance becomes an issue for members who are running for the 2016 presidential nomination.
Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina made it back in time from Wednesday night’s presidential debates in California to cast Thursday’s first votes, while their fellow 2016 contenders — Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida — did not.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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