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Senator Olympia J. Snowe
Republican, Maine
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In her 30 years of public service, Senator Olympia J. Snowe has established herself as a leading voice for education, fiscal responsibility, health care, and women's issues. In November 2000, she was elected to a second term to represent Maine in the U.S. Senate.
Senator Snowe is one of the original co-sponsors of runaway film and production legislation that encourages independent productions to be filmed in America. The U.S. Independent Film and Television Production Incentive Act creates targeted tax credits for American projects produced domestically rather than abroad. Advocating the commitment of the federal government, Snowe seeks to reduce the $10 billion drain from the American economy and save American jobs by decreasing runaway production.
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"Tax incentives that convince film and television production projects to stay on American soil will stem the tide of runaway production and save American jobs."
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In October 2003, Senator Snowe was an instrumental part of the bipartisan coalition which ensured that the Senate Finance Committee voted to include legislation to combat runaway production in Senate Bill 1637 (the Jumpstart Our Business Strength Act). This bill will soon go to the Senate floor and, if passed, then to a joint Senate-House Conference Committee which will create the final legislation.
With her election in 1994, she became the second woman Senator in Maine's history. Snowe represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives for sixteen years before her election to the Senate. She is the fourth woman to be elected to both houses of Congress, and the first woman to serve in both houses of a state legislature and both houses of Congress. When first elected to Congress in 1978, at the age of 31, Snowe was the youngest Republican woman, and the first Greek-American woman elected to Congress. She has won more federal elections in Maine than any other person since World War II.
Senator Snowe has carved out a reputation as a leading moderate in the Senate focusing her attention on efforts to build bipartisan consensus on key issues. She is co-chair of the Senate Centrist Coalition, a vehicle for communication and cooperation between Senate Democrats and Republicans. She has worked extensively on a number of issues, such as national security, ocean and fisheries issues, Medicare, prescription drug legislation and campaign finance reform, while leading efforts important to Maine, including a successful push for federal disaster funds.
In 2001, Snowe became the first Republican woman to secure a full-term seat on the Senate Finance Committee, and the third woman to join the panel. The Committee is considered one of the most powerful in Congress because its members write tax, trade, health care, welfare, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security-related legislation. Snowe was the fourth woman ever to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, where she was the first woman Senator to chair the Subcommittee on Seapower. Senator Snowe earned a degree in political science from the University of Maine in 1969. The Senator is married to former Maine Governor John R. McKernan Jr.
