James M. Moore retired from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Bangor after 30 years of federal service.

As a college student from Maine in 1984, I was privileged to work on the Washington, D.C., staff of Sen. George Mitchell. While my role as an intern was very limited, my observations of Sen. Mitchell during and at the end of workdays made a lifetime impression. 

Maine’s junior senator was then the newest member of the prestigious Finance Committee. The Finance Committee performed some of Congress’ most important work with jurisdiction over taxation. Making changes to tax laws requires enormous amounts of energy to read proposed amendments, policy papers, Treasury regulations and IRS rulings.

My most valuable memories of Sen. Mitchell were seeing him leave the Russell Senate Office Building after very long days of work carrying, with the help of staff, boxes full of documents related to the Finance Committee’s next day of hearings. Overnight Sen. Mitchell read enormous amounts about proposed tax code changes. He had to have stayed up very late or woken up very early to review voluminous amounts of records. 

The next day in committee it became clear that Maine’s senator had completed his homework.  He was an authoritative voice on the committee upon whom senior senators in both parties relied for information.

No one on Sen. Mitchell’s staff was surprised when he later became majority leader and negotiated peace in Northern Ireland. Behind his thoughtful words was an enormous amount of hard work. He was always prepared.

The public service and extraordinary diligence of Sen. Mitchell inspired me to attend the same law school, enter as he had the Attorney General’s Honors Program and work most of my career in an office he had previously led as Maine’s U.S. attorney. When I was opposed as a young Justice Department lawyer by more experienced attorneys or had responsibility for presenting challenging cases to juries, examples set by Sen. Mitchell gave me confidence.

My glimpse into workings of the Senate revealed that to be truly effective, a senator needs to work extraordinarily long hours to study proposed legislation and understand consequences of changes in the law. I learned the government operates on annual budgets that call for the Senate to pass 12 appropriations bills. 

Each bill is detailed, requiring debate within the Appropriations Committee. Sen. Susan Collins chairs this committee. When the Appropriations Committee failed to pass and present on time to the full Senate the bills necessary to fund the government, our country recently endured its longest shutdown in history. Chair Collins later voted to procedurally advance $1 trillion in healthcare cuts and $87 billion for foreign wars. 

Sen. Collins is in her 70s. She has had a very long, distinguished career. Almost 30 years of incumbency allowed her to recently cast a record-setting consecutive vote, after which she stated on the Senate floor, “Mainers are known for their work ethic.” 

When she is seeking to serve a sixth term into her late 70s, it is fair to ask whether a legislator has the energy and stamina necessary to effectively represent us. Sen. Mitchell was in his 50s when he made his mark on the Finance Committee and 61 years old when he retired from the Senate.  

Troy Jackson is in his 50s. As State Senate president, Jackson enacted legislation reducing drug prices, medical debt and domestic violence. Prior to leading the State Senate, Jackson was a logger whose long workdays began before daylight driving crew trucks (called  “crummies”), operating harvesters and falling hundreds of trees. This physically demanding occupation requires grit.

He knows Mainers are being exploited. He won’t ignore affordability, housing shortages and hospital closures. Interns who work for Sen. Jackson will see an inspirational figure whose work ethic makes lasting impressions and inspires public service careers.