When I think about Sen. Susan Collins’ impact on Maine, I don’t think first about the numbers, though they are impressive. I think about the places and the people. I think about the fire stations in small towns that used to be held together with plywood and volunteer ingenuity, and now stand as real, safe facilities because Collins made sure those communities weren’t forgotten.

I think about the behavioral health programs that now exist for children and families because she understood that care of mental health is not a luxury, but a lifeline. And I think about the quiet, steady way Collins has gone about this work for years, without fanfare, but with a deep sense of responsibility to the state she serves.

Over the decades, and especially in her role as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Collins has helped bring hundreds of millions dollars into Maine for projects that matter at the ground level. These are not abstract policy achievements. They are the kinds of investments that change the daily lives of people in towns like St. Agatha, Marshfield and Belgrade. They are the kinds of projects that small communities could never have funded on their own.

Read the full letter at the Portland Press Herald.