Sen. Susan Collins

usan Collins has served as chairwoman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which has chief oversight over the Homeland Security Department, since January 2003, when the Republicans won back the majority in the Senate. Collins switched seats with Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, who is now the ranking member on the committee.

One of Collins's priorities is strengthening port security-she frequently refers to Maine's coastline as an example of the United States' porous borders. And in November, she held a hearing on the threat of "agro-terrorism," which some consider a key U.S. vulnerability.

Collins is the sponsor of three bills still pending in Congress. One is the Homeland Security Technology Improvement Act, which would provide technology, equipment, and homeland-security information to state and local law enforcement agencies and first responders. Collins rejects criticism about funds going to low-risk jurisdictions; she emphasizes that some of the 9/11 hijackers boarded a plane in Portland, Maine. Collins has also sponsored the National Security Personnel System Act, which aims at more-efficient management of DHS's personnel, and the Homeland Security Grant Enhancement Act, which would streamline the homeland-security grant-making process.

Known as a moderate, Collins favors an international, multilateral approach to the fight against terrorism. She supports the Bush administration's assertion that the United States has become safer since 9/11, but says, "There is still much room for improvement."

Born in 1952 and raised in Caribou, in northern Maine, Collins graduated from St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., with a government major. She was first elected to the Senate in 1996 and has served on the Governmental Affairs Committee since then.

Under her tenure, the committee has confirmed several key nominees to positions in the Homeland Security Department; the latest of these was Adm. James M. Loy as deputy secretary.