Full Transcript

LIZ SCHRAYER:  This is so well deserved, and I know everybody is so excited for congratulating you. You and I talked. We’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. We tried to pull this off last year, and the timing didn’t work, so a year in the making, and I’m so excited to have this conversation.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  Thank you so much, Liz.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  So here’s where I want to start. I actually want to start with your story and your story about what motivates you to be this inspiring voice for American global leadership. We all saw it in the video. You and I—you might not remember me, but it so struck me. We talked this summer, and you told me when you were a young senator, one of the people who grabbed you and took you on lots of trips overseas was the late, great Senator John McCain, and I loved what you said. Yes, he deserves an applause.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  And one of the great lines you said, “It was never boring and always exhausting to travel with him.” But share with us, maybe one of the stories from your travels that made you—like that aha moment that says we have to be engaged in the world because our enemies are out there, and the first thing that they want is for us to withdraw. Why do you care so much about this?

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  Well, I care—first of all, may I say thank you?

LIZ SCHRAYER:  Yes, yes. She’s humble too. She’s so lovely.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  Thank you so much for this very prestigious recognition, and it’s made even more special by the other honorees who are here tonight, so thank you.

So when I was a young senator, John McCain sort of took me under his wing to teach me about foreign policy and defense, and one of the lessons that I learned from him was that soft power really mattered, that it was important to have peace through strength, to have a strong national defense, but you could not ignore the incredible effect of being there in countries, immunizing children, for example, the PEPFAR program, for example.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  And by the way, I’ve never felt that President Bush got enough credit for PEPFAR.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  We agree.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  I mean, that was an incredible program.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  And it has become obvious to all of us that China’s Belt and Road program is an incredible example of soft power.

You know, most Americans, if you ask them how much of the budget goes to foreign assistance programs, they’ll say it’s 10 or 20 percent and it needs to be cut. And of course, it’s 1 percent—1 percent—but what a return we get.

But to get back to your question, let me tell two John McCain stories. First of all, traveling with John McCain was not easy. He believed that you would fly all night and then immediately go to meetings. What? You want to sleep? You were supposed to sleep on the plane. And I’ll never forget going to Afghanistan very early when Hamid Karzai was brought back in, smuggled back into the country. We landed in a spiral landing—if you’ve never done that, I don’t recommend it.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  I don’t think I want to.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  —at Bagram Air Base. And we went in, and we met outside with Hamid Karzai in a green Army tent. I remember it was patched in one corner, and it was John McCain, my dear friend Joe Lieberman, who’s since passed away, whom I loved, Lindsey Graham, and me. And we each were allowed to ask Hamid Karzai one question.

And so I’m listening to the questions of the men, and I ask Hamid Karzai, “Are you going to reopen schools for girls?”

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  And I’ll tell you, I was the only woman on the trip, and I don’t think that question would have been asked if I hadn’t been there. And Hamid Karzai said, “Absolutely,” and I’m so glad that I asked that question.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  Me too.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  And that’s the impact that you can have by being there, by meeting with world leaders, by going to countries like Afghanistan. So I will tell you that I went to Afghanistan with John McCain four times. I went to Iraq with him four times.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  And you’re here to tell the story.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  Yeah, I’m here to tell the story. And finally, I thought, you know, I’ve been to Afghanistan and Iraq four times. I’ve never been to Paris? There’s something wrong. There’s something wrong.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  So a friend of mine and I went to Paris on our own nickel for a weekend.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  Good for you.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  But I went to Yemen with him. I met Gaddafi with him. And what I learned is what a difference being present meant.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  Showing up. Can I ask you—first, thank you for your travels. Thank you for your voice. I want to pick up on the question that you asked. You know, one of the cornerstones of your engagement in foreign policy has been this commitment to empowering women and girls, and you’ve done it everywhere you’ve gone. You’ve done it in legislation. You’ve done it in your travels. I know, because I’ve heard you speak about it, that one of the inspirations was your mother. And I’m curious of what you think and why it makes such a big difference when we do that, and any plans perhaps in the 119th Congress that you might be thinking about doing?

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  Well, good, good segue there.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  Well, first of all, I lost my mother this March. She was 96, and she lived an extraordinary life. She not only raised six children, but she was mayor of my hometown of Caribou. She was the first woman to chair the University of Maine System Board of Trustees. Any group or organization that my mother was appointed or elected to, she became chair of. I mean, it was just automatic. And so I learned a lot of lessons from her.

And I’ll never forget her telling me that you have no right to complain if you don’t get involved, and that is true.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  I like that.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  And I want to commend all of you for getting involved, because it really does make a difference.

So there are several issues that I am passionate about. One is a bill that I have with Senator Chris Coons of Delaware that is called the Reach Act, and it is aimed at preventing—I’m going to use “preventing” and “preventable” in the same sentence, but stopping preventable maternal and infant deaths around the world.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  So critical.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  And, you know, we know how to do it. A lot of times, it’s just clean birthing methods.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  Yep, yep. Absolutely.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  It’s making sure that that infant has the nourishment that the infant needs. It’s not complicated, and we can make such a difference. So help me get that bill across the finish line.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  I think we have some activists here.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  So let me ask you about another issue you have been not only an activist in, you’ve been a champion of, and that’s the issue of supporting Ukraine in the fight against Russia. As was said, thank you. Absolutely. You have been out there. You were a leader, and we actually have a video. We have a comment, because you’re just about as passionate about that as you are about Maine. I’ll explain why. Let’s play something.

DEB NEUMAN: Good evening, Senator. It’s Deb Neuman from the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce in beautiful downtown Bangor, Maine. And I’m so pleased to have the opportunity to congratulate you on this well-deserved honor and to share a special thank you from your friends and constituents here at home for all that you do to keep America and Maine safe and prosperous. You know better than most that what happens globally impacts our economic interests right here at home.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  Now, why did I play Deb? So Deb is the president, if you heard, of the Chamber of Commerce in Maine, and the reason I did it is because I cannot tell you how many of your Maine constituents want to say congratulations. We only had time for one.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  And there’s some here tonight.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  And there’s some here. But because your support for Ukraine is totally connected to Deb and your constituents, the debate goes on. You have been unbelievable in making sure that not only security but the non-security aid gets through.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  Yes.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  Why is it important? And connect it right back to Deb and the Chamber of Commerce in Bangor, Maine.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  So I can’t tell you how passionate I am about helping Ukraine. I went to Ukraine just a few months after the invasion of February of ’22, and I went on the trip with Senators McConnell, Barrasso, Cornyn, and I. And we had to take this very circuitous route into Ukraine. It took us 23 hours to get there. We flew to Poland, took two different trains, blacked out at night.

And I’ll never forget arriving in Kiev, and, of course, President Zelensky was there to meet us. But what was most moving to me was a woman who came up to me, and she saw my pin that was American flag and Ukrainian flag. And she said, “American?” And I said, “Yes.” She gave me a big hug, tears in her eyes, and she offered a prayer and said, “Thank you, America.” And I’ll tell you, I was ready to be sent to the front lines after that where I would have been utterly useless.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  But here’s why this matters, and it matters so much. Putin has made very clear that he wants to re-create the old Soviet Union. He is not going to stop if he wins with Ukraine. He is not. And in my view, what he would do is if he seizes Ukraine or a substantial portion of it, he will then go to Moldova, the poorest nation in Europe and has a somewhat pro-Russian population. He’s already got a foothold in Belarus. And then he will start menacing the Baltic states and threatening Poland. And guess what? The Baltic states and Poland are part of NATO, and then we are in a land war in Europe, which none of us wants.

So it’s not only morally the right thing to do to help Ukraine, which has been so courageous, push back against this brutal, unjustified, unprovoked Russian invasion, it’s in our interest. Our interest.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  Hear, hear. Senator, thank you for your courage. I’ve got one more of your constituents who wants to say something, and then we’ll get about 30 seconds for you to finish with one question. Here’s your constituent.

SEC. BILL COHEN:  Congratulations, Susan, on this terrific award. Susan and I have known each other for 50 years, and during that long journey together, I’ve had a chance to see just how great a public servant she is. She brings intelligence, integrity, and a willingness to work across party lines in order to do something on behalf of the people that she serves in Maine and certainly the nation. So congratulations, Senator Collins.

You started out as a congressional intern in my office, and after four, five terms in the Senate, you’re now about to become the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Well done. Congratulations. I’m always proud of you.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  That means a lot. Thank you. Thank you.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  Senator, in our last 30 seconds, as you were introduced, you get ranked as the bipartisan senator from Georgetown, from Lugar Center. We don’t live in such a bipartisan town these days. What’s your message to young people who are interested in public service of how you get things done? There’s Bill Cohen. You started out as an intern here 40 years ago. You’re about to take the mantle of probably one of the most powerful positions in government. You know how to get things done. Guide us, old wise one. What do we do here?

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  Well, I’ll tell you, it is a difficult time to serve because we have people on the far left and people on the far right who are not that interested in governing and finding solutions, but they’re fanatical about it. So what we need are more fanatical moderates.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  There we go.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  And I will tell you, I do worry about whether young people are going to be so turned off by what they see that they will not run for public office, they will not serve in their community or state or country’s legislative bodies. And that’s why I make a point of visiting schools all over Maine, because I want those children to know that if I can go from the halls of Caribou High School to the chambers of the United States Senate, that anything is possible for them, but that they have an obligation to serve their community, to serve their state, to serve their country. Not necessarily to make it a career, but to volunteer.

And I think role models are so important, and there’s nothing I love better than visiting our schools. I’ve visited more than 200 schools in the state of Maine.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  How beautiful!

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  And I think it’s really important. Thank you all.

LIZ SCHRAYER:  Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome now my role model, Senator Susan Collins.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS:  Thank you.