WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) announced today that he has cosponsored the Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act, bipartisan legislation aimed at improving rural communications and addressing call completion. Today, persistent dropped calls in rural communities across the country are creating major inconveniences for families, hurting businesses, and even threatening public safety. A 2012 test call project found that nearly one in five calls placed to rural... Continue Reading »
To watch Senator King’s video, click HERE. DIXFIELD, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) toured the Irving Forest Products Eastern White Pine Sawmill in Dixfield where he surveyed its operations and expressed his continued support for the forest products industry and its hardworking employees across Maine. “This is a fabulous mill. It’s the fourth largest sawmill in Maine – a huge contributor to the Maine forest economy, bringing wood in, sawing wood, and... Continue Reading »
BRUNSWICK, ME – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released an agenda for its February Open Meeting indicating that it will move forward with Phase II of the Universal Service Fund’s Mobility Fund (MFII), which is aimed at providing broadband service in rural areas of the country. The move by the FCC follows pressure from Senator King and his colleagues who wrote to new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to expand mobile broadband deployment in rural areas. Senator King... Continue Reading »
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King applauded the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) action today to exempt most civilian employees at public shipyards, including Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, from the recently announced federal civilian hiring freeze. While the hiring freeze was not intended to apply to military personnel or positions considered essential to meet national security responsibilities, the uncertainty caused shipyards across the... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released the following statement in response to an announcement by the Maine Attorney General that more than one person a day died of drug overdose in Maine in 2016: “Right now, Washington is consumed in petty partisanship and political bickering. But back in Maine, more than one person a day died from a drug-related overdose last year. That’s a troubling, staggering figure – and it should be a wake-up call to those in... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, today voted against the motion to report the nomination of Congressman Mick Mulvaney to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) out of the Senate Budget Committee. Following the vote, Senator King released the following statement: “While I personally like Congressman Mulvaney, I was extremely concerned that he refused to unequivocally state that the debt ceiling... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today joined several of his colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter to the new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai asking him to prioritize mobile broadband deployment in rural and underserved areas. Specifically, the Senators are calling on the agency to move forward with Phase II of the Universal Service Fund’s Mobility Fund (MFII), which is aimed at providing broadband service to these... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced the release of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) 2016 Arctic Strategy. Senators King and Sullivan sponsored an amendment to the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that required “an updated military strategy for the protection of United States national security interests in the Arctic region.” Such a strategy... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released the following statement tonight on President Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve as an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court: “My approach to considering Judge Gorsuch’s nomination will be consistent with my approach to considering Merrick Garland’s nomination last year: I will listen to the views he expresses... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the co-chairs of the Senate Broadband Caucus, led 48 senators, including Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), in urging President Donald Trump to include broadband in any infrastructure initiative he puts forward. “Expanding access to broadband, both rural and urban, is the infrastructure challenge of our generation and... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the support of U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today favorably reported the nominations of Governor Rick Perry for Secretary of Energy and Congressman Ryan Zinke for Secretary of the Interior to the full Senate for its consideration. Senator King released the following statement: “While I do not agree with some of the positions held by Governor Perry and Congressman Zinke, after meeting with both of them... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) announced today that he has been named the Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Water and Power. The Subcommittee on Water and Power is responsible for overseeing programs related to irrigation, reclamation projects, including related flood control purposes; power marketing administrations; energy development impacts on water resources; groundwater resources and management;... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) this evening announced that he will support the nomination of Rex Tillerson to serve as U.S. Secretary of State and oppose the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions to serve as Attorney General. Senator King released the following statement: “After speaking personally with him, watching his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and... Continue Reading »
ELLSWORTH, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King and Congressman Bruce Poliquin announced they will be introducing companion legislation in the Senate and House to make important revisions to boundary policies at Acadia National Park (ANP) and to resolve recent disputes between local harvesters and the National Park Service (NPS) in and around the park. The legislation is based off of bills that were introduced last Congress by Senator King and Congressman Poliquin. “Washington may not... Continue Reading »
BRUNSWICK, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today released the January edition of his podcast, Inside Maine, which focuses on the impact that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would have on rural Maine hospitals and how the health care law has helped Maine people. In the podcast, Senator interviews Ryan Cowan and Sarah Wilder, a Hampden couple who owns Wild Cow Creamery, a small ice cream business in Belfast, and David Frum, President and CEO of Bridgton Hospital and CEO of Rumford... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) took action today to exempt critical personnel from the recently announced federal civilian hiring freeze. Previously, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King wrote to then President-elect Trump on January 10 urging him to exclude critical personnel from the VA who work to provide care and support to veterans from his proposed federal civilian hiring freeze. The Senators wrote that the hiring freeze could leave critical... Continue Reading »
LINCOLN, ME – During a conversation convened by U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today, leadership and health providers at Penobscot Valley Hospital (PVH) in Lincoln warned that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act could result in the loss of more than $10 million over the next ten years, endangering the financial stability of the hospital, its ability to provide convenient, high-quality care to local residents, the jobs of those it employs, and its significant economic contributions to... Continue Reading »
ORONO, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) joined with officials from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Maine at Orono (UMaine) to announce the establishment of a partnership between the two that will work to strengthen Maine’s forest economy. ORNL and UMaine today signed a Letter of Intent expressing their commitment to establishing a collaborative model that brings together ORNL’s expertise in additive... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today joined six members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in urging President Trump to read the classified version of the Committee’s 2014 report on the CIA detention and interrogation program before considering the possible resumption of such activities. “To avoid making the mistakes of the past, it is of the utmost importance that you familiarize yourself with, and ensure that any Executive Branch officials... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine) signed onto a letter led by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and sent to Secretary of Defense James Mattis calling for Department of Navy shipyard civilian employees to be exempt from the recent executive order that freezes federal hiring. While the executive order states that it does not apply to military personnel or positions considered essential to meet national security responsibilities, the... Continue Reading »
