She caught the public's and media's intense interest when she and her fellow Senator from Maine broke away and became deciding votes in the economic recovery plan earlier this year. She kept our attention (and the media's) as she spoke out for mental health, energy independence and assistance for nonprofits. Who is this lady from Maine?

According to her biography, "With her election in 1994, Olympia J. Snowe became only the second woman Senator in history to represent Maine, following the late Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, who served from 1949 - 1973. In November 2006, she was re-elected to a third six-year term in the United States Senate with 74 percent of the vote."

Her path to Congress began in Augusta Maine, on February 21, 1947 George Bouchles, a native of Mytilene, Greece, and Georgia Goranites Bouchles, whose parents immigrated to America from Sparta, welcomed their new daughter, Olympia. After the death of her parents, she was raised by her aunt and uncle, the late Mary and James Goranites of Auburn, Maine. She attended Greek orthodox schools and churches. She eventually married her first husband, Peter Snowe, who tragically died in an automobile accident. That was her impetus to government. In 1973, she was elected to the Maine House representing her home town of Auburn. This was the seat left vacant by the death of her first husband, the late Peter Snowe. She was re-elected in 1974, and was elected to the Maine Senate representing Androscoggin County in 1976. She subsequently remarried, this time to former Maine Governor John R. McKernan Jr.

Her career only went up from there. She was first elected to Congress in 1978, at the age of 31. That made Olympia Snowe wasthe youngest Republican woman, and the first Greek-American woman, ever elected to Congress. In 1994 she was elected to the U.S. Senate, becoming the first woman in American history to serve in both houses of a state legislature and both houses of Congress. In 1997 she was appointed to the position of Counsel to the Assistant Majority Leader, and in 2001 she became the first Republican woman ever to secure a full-term seat on the Senate Finance Committee.

According to her biography,"In 2005, she was named the 54th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine. In 2006 Time Magazine named her one of the top ten U.S. Senators. Calling her “The Caretaker,” Time magazine wrote of Snowe: “Because of her centrist views and eagerness to get beyond partisan point scoring, Maine Republican Olympia Snowe is in the center of every policy debate in Washington., but while Snowe is a major player on national issues, she is also known as one of the most effective advocates for her constituents.”

As with so many women in Congress, Snowe is known for her bipartisan efforts.She's concentrated on issues such as budget and fiscal responsibility; education, including student financial aid and education technology; national security; women’s issues; health care, including prescription drug coverage for Medicare recipients; welfare reform; oceans and fisheries issues; and campaign finance reform.

Senator Snowe sits in key and influential positions. She was previously the Chair, and is now the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. She is also a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. For that committee, she is the former Chair and is now the Ranking Member of its Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and the Coast Guard. She also currently sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. She works closely with her fellow Senator from Maine, Susan Collins, on issues important to Maine and the nation.

Senator Snowe is currently advocating for health care reform on behalf of small businesses, "As former Chair and now Ranking Member of the Senate Small Business Committee, if there’s one concern I’ve heard time and again – from small businesses in Maine and across the country – it’s the exorbitant cost to small businesses of providing health insurance to their employees. Further compounding the crisis is that small group insurance markets currently have no real competition, as evidenced by the alarming trend of consolidation in the state small group insurance markets. Small business health reform must be a central component to our broader reform efforts, and that is why I am working diligently, as a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, to craft bipartisan, comprehensive health care reform legislation that will make health care more affordable and universal for small businesses and the self-employed."

Learn more about Senator Snowe at her Web site .