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
On October 13, the Senate Finance Committee made their final vote on the Baucus proposal. The committee passed its bill 14 to 9. All Republicans voted no with the exception of Sen. Olympia Snowe. She later commented, "When history calls, history calls." The "San Francisco Chronicle" referred to her vote as "a coup" for Baucus, coming after criticism from his fellow Democrats for making too many compromises. Snowe, as well as some moderate Democratic members of the committee, have vowed that they will drop their support for the Baucus plan if a 'public option' is added at any point.