Maggie Hassan and Susan Collins Keep Cool in the Face of a Education Crisis

Following a surge of online doxxings, cybercrime, and teacher and student demonstrations, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee was called to DC for an emergency session last night. I sat down with Maggie Hassan and Susan Collins, two senators who emerged as leaders last night, to hear their thoughts and reflections on the crisis.

The two senators outlined their bill-writing process, emphasizing the importance of bipartisanship and teamwork to protect the safety of their constituents, as well as their duty to maintain a level head to react promptly and precisely.

Senator Collins emphasized their efforts to consider both speed and quality of legislation, stating that they wanted any laws passed to be “on par with a non-emergency.” Senator Hassan agreed, explaining how the committee used both short and long-term solutions to create a two-pronged approach to target online data leaks on social media in the HELP Act, as well as passed the CIA act to fund cybersecurity innovation to prevent future cyberattacks.

The conversation took a solemn tone when I brought up last night’s interruptions by a teacher protest and two angered students, with Hassan discussing the potential risks surrounding their jobs as senators.

Working in Congress is “simply a more dangerous job” right now than it has been in the past, said Hassan. The senator elaborated that since the insurrection on the Capitol three years ago on January 6th, as well as the attack on former Speaker of the House’s husband Paul Pelosi in 2022, people have been “much more aware of the risks inherent to [working in Congress].” “We’re very lucky that all of the people who interrupted our meeting yesterday were non-violent,” said Hassan, stating that she didn’t feel like the senators were in any direct danger.

When I asked about the teamwork and bipartisanship seen in HELP last night, Collins explained that this unity was more so a reflection of the promptness needed to respond to the crisis, stating that an “active effort” was made to appeal to both Democrats and Republicans in order to pass two bills that “almost everyone could put their names behind.” Senator Hassan was “happily surprised” at the bipartisanship of last night’s session.

The two senators played a large role in maintaining this unity, with Hassan recalling several times at which senators wanted to split into groups to write separate bills. Hassan explained that she and Senator Collins consistently pushed for their colleagues to work together with them, knowing that if all of the members had their values reflected in the bills, it would greatly expedite the legislative process. “Urgency, of course, was the most important thing in a crisis such as this,” said Hassan, expressing her pleasure that the committee was able to maintain a “cohesive unit” and avoid factions.

Last night more than any other session, Collins stated, “the two of us looked at each other like ‘we’re gonna make something work.’” Said Collins, “it wasn’t that I need to write a piece of legislation.” It was “we need to write a piece of legislation.”

This article was written by Mary Claire McGreivey.