LEWISTON — If you ask U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe why she voted in favor of a bill that her party opposes, that she doesn't like all that much and that didn't even need her vote in order to pass, she says the answer is simple.

"It's (because of) the state I represent, the political legacy and traditions that I've inherited that are ingrained and instilled in me," the Maine Republican said in an interview Wednesday. "These are very challenging times for Americans and Mainers and the most important thing you can do is try to solve problems, and this is the major problem facing people."

On Tuesday, Snowe was the only Republican from among five congressional committees to vote in favor of health care reform legislation.

It's been a top legislative priority for President Barack Obama, but Democrats and Republicans have had difficulty finding enough common ground on which to build legislation, particularly in the face of the acrimonious debate that followed many politicians around their home districts during the summer recess.

Americans are rightly concerned about Congress' ability to reform the health care system, Snowe said.

"They've got conflicting emotions — they know we've got a problem, but they're not sure Congress can deal with it right and that's overshadowed by the decline in the economy and the anxieties that emerge from joblessness and the cost of living," she said.

Health care is an issue Snowe has worked on throughout her more than 30 years in Congress, as a member of both the House and the Senate. She has been immersed in the issue since last May as a member of the so-called "Gang of Six" group of bipartisan senators from the Senate Finance Committee. It's an issue she can't walk away from, Snowe said.

Though the bill she helped craft was not quite what she hoped it would be, Snowe said she voted for it to "keep the process going."

The finance bill will be blended with another Senate bill passed out of a different committee and will likely be further changed when it is brought to the full Senate floor.

"The industry has come off, this last decade, a 500 percent growth in profits, while premiums have gone up 131 percent, wages 38 percent and inflation 28 percent," Snowe said. "You know there's a problem. Is there a possibility of dealing with it? I feel I have a responsibility to do that, regardless of what party I'm in."

Snowe said too many of her colleagues are unwilling to take stands on issues, making it more difficult to reach consensus and grapple with the big issues.

"We live in a really risk-adverse environment here; you have fewer and fewer people willing to step out. That's what happens around here, people just say, 'OK, it's too risky so we'll just let it go'," she said. "I didn't expect to be the lone Republican. It's just sort of when the decks were cleared, I was the only one standing."

rmetzler@sunjournal.com

Associated Press