WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) spoke on the Senate floor to mark the 7,000th consecutive vote cast by Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) – doing so with a nod to Maine’s illustrious history of dedicated senators, by presenting Senator Collins with a rose, the flower which was regularly sported by her predecessor, Senator Margaret Chase Smith. Collins holds the longest active perfect voting record in the U.S. Senate, having never missed a vote since taking office.

“I want to join so many of my colleagues and the Majority Leader in congratulating my individual colleague from the state of Maine on this extraordinary achievement,” said Senator King. “I once was at a meeting with Senator Collins in Maine and had just gotten my voting record, and I think I'd missed two votes out of a couple of thousand and I said to Senator Collins, ‘Look I'm 99.2 percent of making all the votes.’ And she paused for a moment and looked at me and smiled and said, ‘You'll never catch me.’ And she was absolutely correct that the math doesn't work.

“To have made 7,000 consecutive votes is an extraordinary achievement, particularly given the logistics of this place. The logistics of getting back and forth to Maine – she and I travel back and forth in Maine frequently together – but to have achieved this is really something remarkable in the annals of the U.S. Senate. In the 1980s and 90s, I got to know one of her predecessors, Senator Margaret Chase Smith, who was a legend in Maine. And Senator Smith was not only legendary for making every vote, but also for always, wearing a red rose. And every day that she appeared in the Senate, Senator Smith wore a red rose. So I'd like to conclude my remarks by taking a red rose to Senator Collins in recognition of her following in the footsteps of her illustrious predecessor.”