PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was honored over the weekend by the Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy for her outstanding bipartisan legislative leadership. The award was presented during a ceremony Saturday night in Pebble Beach.

The institute, founded and directed by former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta and his wife, Sylvia, presents its annual Jefferson-Lincoln Award to two outstanding public servants who have demonstrated the highest standards of bipartisan leadership in solving our nation’s problems and a commitment to the nation’s interest regardless of political party.

This year Collins shares the honor with a colleague, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

“Their long careers in service to the nation have been marked by an independence of judgment and decision-making that symbolizes their exemplary, bipartisan leadership,” said the institute in announcing the awards.