WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today voted to advance bipartisan legislation that makes robust and comprehensive reforms to the military justice system to combat sexual assault in the military. The Victims Protection Act of 2014, authored by Senators Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), strengthens a series of groundbreaking reforms that were passed in the Fiscal Year 2014 National... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following a letter last week from U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), the Treasury Department today announced that it is streamlining health insurance reporting requirements for businesses. The rules, mandated under the Affordable Care Act and finalized this afternoon, will only require a single, consolidated form to avoid duplicative reporting and simplify certification options for employers that provide healthcare, including an option to ease reporting by not separately... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today during a Senate Budget Committee hearing on the President’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget proposal, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a proponent of efforts to upgrade America’s infrastructure and transportation system, welcomed comments from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget Sylvia Burwell that America should focus greater attention on repairing and maintaining its aging infrastructure. “I was encouraged by Director Burwell’s... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has allocated $3 million in federal funding to dredge the Royal River as soon as this coming fall. “Our nation’s ports and harbors, especially those in Maine, play an integral role in supporting local economies, commerce, and marine trade jobs. There is an ongoing need to see that they are properly maintained and managed,” Senators Collins and King said... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a press conference in the U.S. Capitol today, U.S. Senator Angus King, along with Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), continued their effort to highlight the positive impacts the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is having on millions of Americans throughout the country. Senator King spoke about his personal battle with cancer and emphasized the Affordable Care Act’s goal to provide higher-quality... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter to the leadership of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) expressed his deep concern for the process employed by the National Park Service (NPS) that led the agency to end its longstanding relationship with the Acadia Corporation (Acadia Corp.) and asked the committee to review the pending contract and press NPS for answers regarding its selection process. “I believe that the selection process for... Continue Reading »
BANGOR, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King honored the 286th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (286 CSB) Maine Army National Guard at a Meritorious Unit Citation Ceremony in Bangor. The 286 CSSB mobilized on January 24, 2009 in Support of Operation Enduring Freedom with 81 Soldiers to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, and today’s ceremony recognized their service and sacrifice as well as that of their families. “Throughout our history, brave men and women from Maine have... Continue Reading »
BRUNSWICK, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King released the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement that they will continue to exclude white potatoes from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, commonly referred to as WIC. “I am extremely disappointed that, despite overwhelming evidence showing the nutritional benefits of white potatoes, USDA has decided to continue its exclusion of fresh potatoes... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As a part of his ongoing effort to keep the people of Maine informed of his work in the nation’s capital, U.S. Senator Angus King sat down to share this week’s events in Washington. In his weekly address, Senator King discussed: His recent trip to the Middle East with Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA). His efforts to reduce regulatory burdens placed on businesses by insurance reporting requirements in the Affordable Care Act. His meetings with Maine residents... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew urging him to ease the regulatory burdens placed on businesses by streamlining insurance reporting requirements. Under proposed rules issued by the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which were mandated by the Affordable Care Act, employers with 50 or more employees are required to submit to the IRS forms which certify that they offered health care coverage to... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposals today that would update nutrition labeling, U.S. Senator King (I-Maine) encouraged the agency to examine menu-labeling requirements for small business and grocers: “Updating labeling requirements for food packages and other consumer products is long overdue. The FDA’s proposal today is a welcome step in the effort to modernize labels, and I look forward to reviewing the details,”... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King announced today that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will award $32.8 million in federal funding for the mitigation of the New England Multispecies Groundfish Fishery disaster declared by the Secretary of Commerce and that the 25-percent state match requirement will be waived, as Senators King and Collins had requested in a letter earlier this month. The funding will help assist struggling fishermen across New England,... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Maine’s Congressional delegation sent a letter today to FEMA Acting Regional Administrator Paul Ford in support of the State’s request for federal disaster assistance funding for all of Maine’s counties and municipalities in the wake of the major ice storm that hit the state beginning on December 21, 2013. In the letter, signed by Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and Representatives Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree, the delegation cites the more... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of a time-honored Senate tradition, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today delivered President George Washington’s 1796 Farewell Address on the Senate floor. “Washington was the execution of the vision of the Constitution. When he took office, there was no United States. There was an idea, there was a vision, there was a concept, but how it was actually put into practice was so much in the consequences of Washington’s decisions on a day-to-day... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement after returning from a trip to the Middle East with Senator Tim Kaine, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and Central and South Asian Affairs, and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “First, it was extraordinarily valuable to meet with dozens of Americans who are serving... Continue Reading »
BEIRUT, LEBANON – U.S. Senators Tim Kaine, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and Central and South Asian Affairs, and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Angus King, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, made a two-day visit to Lebanon as part of their wider trip to the region. The Senators had substantive discussions with President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen urging the IRS to end to the increasing prevalence of “dark money” in American politics by limiting the vast role that tax-exempt nonprofit organizations are able to play in influencing elections through large-scale, anonymous donations. According to current IRS rule, a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization can participate in political activity... Continue Reading »
RAMALLAH and JERUSALEM – Today U.S. Senators Tim Kaine, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and Central and South Asian Affairs, and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Angus King, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees had substantive discussions with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat. They also met with a group of... Continue Reading »
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – Today U.S. Senators Tim Kaine, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and Central and South Asian Affairs, and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Angus King, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, visited an Iron Dome site near the Gaza border, as well as had substantive discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. During the... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of his ongoing effort to keep the people of Maine up to date with his work in Washington, U.S. Senator Angus King sat down to discuss this week’s events in the nation’s capital. In his weekly address Senator King discussed: A bill to suspend the nation’s debt ceiling until March of 2015, which successfully passed both chambers of Congress this week. A bill to fully restore cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for military retirees under the age... Continue Reading »
