Max Baucus
Max Sieben Baucus (né Enke; born December 11, 1941) is a retired American politician and diplomat who served as a United States Senator from Montana from 1978 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a U.S. Senator for nearly 36 years, making him the longest-serving Senator in Montana history. President Barack Obama appointed Baucus to replace Gary Locke as the 11th United States Ambassador to China, a position that he held from 2014 until 2017.
America's Healthy Future Act
Chairman Baucus was known as the head of a bipartisan group called the 'Gang of Six' in the Senate Finance Committee. Senators Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Kent Conrad of North Dakota made up the other Democratic members of the 'gang', while Olympia Snowe of Maine, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and Mike Enzi of Wyoming made up the Republican side. They underwent months of negotiations and compromises over the summer of 2009 to achieve a healthcare plan. In the first week of September, Baucus began saying that he would push through a plan even if he could not obtain bipartisan backing. He remarked that "time has come for action, and we will act" on September 9.