As the legislative session begins again this year, I have been reflecting on what my priorities for 2006 will be. It is my sincere hope that Congress will be able to put aside any partisan differences to enact legislation that is in the best interest of all Americans. I would like to take this opportunity to outline some specific measures that I will be focusing on during the coming year.

As the winter progresses one of my main concerns is ensuring that citizens throughout Maine have access to necessary heating assistance through the Low Income Housing Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Before the Senate adjourned last year, I, along with Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Norm Coleman (R-MN) secured a promise from Senate leadership that they will hold a vote on an emergency supplemental bill to increase federal assistance for LIHEAP by $2 billion at the start of this year. I plan on holding Senate leadership to its promise; otherwise, this winter could bring a disastrous situation for countless Mainers and Americans faced with high fuel prices and insufficient LIHEAP funding.

One of my greatest priorities for 2006 is ensuring that the Medicare prescription drug benefit gets off to a good start.  This historic benefit is far too critical to the health of millions of seniors to allow early mistakes and glitches to impact the effectiveness of the program.   Countless seniors have had trouble signing up for the plan and so I want to make sure that they have adequate time –and accurate information – to choose the plan that is best for them. That is why I introduced legislation with Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) to extend the signup period through all of 2006 and to allow seniors to switch plans if they made a bad decision based on faulty or inadequate information.  Also, since the new drug benefit went into effect on January 1st, many low-income seniors have been unable to get their prescription drugs due to errors made by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services – and states have picked up the tab.  I joined Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) in introducing a bill to reimburse Maine and other states for the millions of dollars they have spent on prescriptions for low-income and disabled Medicare beneficiaries who should have been covered under the new Medicare drug benefit.     

I am also committed to making sure that Maine continues to lead the way in shipbuilding. Undersecretary of Defense Kenneth J. Krieg recently approved commencement of construction of eight DD(X) destroyers at Bath Iron Works, thereby underscoring the importance of Maine’s shipbuilding capabilities to our nation’s defense. I will continue to make certain that the vital DD(X) program moves forward and that the Navy’s shipbuilding accounts are not unwisely sacrificed at the altar of cost-saving expediency for the Department of Defense.

Along with shipbuilding, fishing is an essential industry in Maine and so, in my role as Chair of the Senate Fisheries and the Coast Guard Subcommittee, I plan to make sure that the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) is reauthorized in a way that serves the interests of Maine fishermen and the environment. The MSA, originally enacted in 1976, establishes a national framework for conserving and managing marine fisheries within a 200-mile wide zone contiguous to the United States through eight Regional Fishery Management Councils. A thoughtful and fair reauthorization of this Act is essential to the economies and marine environments of coastal communities in Maine and throughout the nation.

I take my role as chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship very seriously. In my capacity as chair this year, I hope to pass the “Small Business Health Fairness Act”, which is a bipartisan proposal that would create national Association Health Plans (AHPs) that would lower the costs of, and improve access to, health insurance for small businesses. Small businesses possess few, if any, choices when it comes to securing affordable, quality health insurance. This legislation would provide health insurance to up to 8.5 million people. Because of this, AHP legislation has strong support in Congress and from a coalition of over 12 million employers and 80 million employees.

As the second session of the 109^th Congress begins, I feel a great sense of possibility. There is quite a bit that I hope to accomplish on behalf of Maine and the nation but I know that my Congressional colleagues share my commitment to making America a safer and better place and that together, we will be able to make the nation’s priorities our priorities.