is anxious to contribute as the Island faces new challenges.

"It's great to have you back,'' Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan told Sen.

Milligan-Whyte after she took her oath at Government House before Governor Lord Waddington.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte, who first served in the Upper House from 1987 to 1990, said Government can put her international business experience to good use.

"I think the Country is facing some very interesting new initiatives, especially in the area of the economy and bringing new types of businesses to Bermuda,'' she said.

With the US Navy pulling out next September 1, she also looks forward to helping resolve "the pressing issues surrounding the Base''.

But she did not want to talk about Independence. Asked if she supported plans for a Green Paper and referendum on the issue, Sen. Milligan-Whyte said: "I wasn't a part of Government when they made that decision.

"I respect the fact that Government has collectively agreed to do that, and I can only go along with it.'' But "to the degree we focus on that issue, we're not dealing with the hard issues facing the Country, which are economic ones''.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte, 50, was born in Bermuda and earned four degrees at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario before she was called to the Bar in Canada and Bermuda in 1983.

At her law firm, Milligan-Whyte & Smith, she specialises in corporate and commercial law, insurance and reinsurance, financial services, trusts, computer software and intellectual property law.

A member of the Government Task Force on International Business since 1982, she chairs the Bermuda International Business Association sub-committee on computing software and intellectual property and is a Bermuda Stock Exchange councillor.

For the last four years, Sen. Milligan-Whyte has marketed Bermuda as a business locale at the World Economic Forum. She is to speak in Oman in December at a business conference.

She is Editor of the Bermuda Law Review and author of several articles related to international business law in Bermuda and elsewhere. A member of the board of trustees of Queen's University, she is a former associate with Appleby, Spurling & Kempe, former assistant to the chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission, and former chairman of the Premier's Women's Advisory Council.

During her first stint in the Senate, she was Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs; Health, Social Services, and Housing; and Public Works, Housing and the Environment. Yesterday, she was named Parliamentary Secretary for Finance.

In 1989, she ran for the House of Assembly in the Progressive Labour Party stronghold of Southampton East, garnering 15 percent of the vote.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte resigned from the Senate along with Mr. Charles Marshall New Senator appointed August, 1990, citing the need to concentrate on her law practice.

"I never fully left politics,'' she said yesterday, noting she has served as deputy chairman of the United Bermuda Party for the last two years.

Married to Mr. John Milligan-Whyte, the new Senator has one son. Her hobbies include golf and tennis.

Sir John said Sen. Milligan-Whyte is an experienced and dedicated party member who "understands the philosophy and the direction the Government is taking the Country.'' The Premier said he "absolutely'' wants to increase the representation of women in Government. At the same time, "she was chosen because of her ability,'' he said.

Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade expressed mild surprise at the appointment. He said he expected Sir John would choose a new face, "rather than putting somebody back who had for a variety of reasons not found the Senate quite her cup of tea''.

"I would have thought there certainly was a need for white women in Bermuda to be given an opportunity in the Senate,'' he said.

If he was in the Premier's shoes, Mr. Wade said he would have chosen Mrs. Kim Young as a Senator.

WELCOME BACK -- Lawyer Sen. Linda Milligan-Whyte is congratulated by Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan on her return to the upper house yesterday.