BRUNSWICK, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) joined 19 Senate colleagues in urging President Biden to provide stronger federal assistance to reduce deductibles and out-of-pocket health care expenses for American families. In addition, the Senators asked for support for a long-term investment in premium assistance and closing the Medicaid coverage gap for low-income families in states that haven’t expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act... Continue Reading »
Washington, D.C.—Following a push spearheaded by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) and Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a joint rule today making available an additional 22,000 H-2B visas that will help small businesses fill seasonal job openings. Qualifying employers can begin applying on May 25. These visas will supplement the previous supply of 33,000 H-2B visas for the... Continue Reading »
BRUNSWICK, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) joined 12 Senate colleagues in urging the Biden administration to work with states, tribes, and territories in prioritizing young people in the foster care system, who have been especially impacted by the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. In a letter to the Administration for Children and Families at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the senators outlined the range of challenges faced by young people in foster care in the... Continue Reading »
BRUNSWICK, ME– U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) has joined a bipartisan group of his colleagues to introduce the Life Budgeting for Opioid Addiction Treatment (LifeBOAT) Act, which would establish a small stewardship fee paid by drug manufacturers to provide and expand access to substance use treatment. In 2020, over 90,000 Americans died from drug related overdoses, including more than 500 in Maine; both numbers represent new records for the highest year of overdose deaths ever recorded.“Last... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON — Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) announced the award of $30 million to the City of Lewiston today through the Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant program. The members of Congress sent a letter of support for the funding to the Department of Housing and Urban Development earlier this year.The $30 million grant will go towards implementing Lewiston’s collaborative plan for its “Tree Streets” neighborhood. The high-density area has an aging housing... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) is joining Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) to reintroduce the Preventive Health Savings Act, which would direct the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to more accurately research the cost-savings that come from preventive health care. The bipartisan legislation also would allow congressional leaders of relevant committees to request an analysis of preventive measures extending beyond the... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today joined a bipartisan group of his colleagues to express widespread support in the Senate for the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program for Afghans, and to urge continued support from the administration to uphold the integrity of the program. The SIV program presents an important path to ensuring the safety of Afghan allies that aided U.S. service members and diplomats. This outreach occurs a day before the Afghanistan withdrawal will... Continue Reading »
Washington, D.C. –U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) and Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Jared Golden (D-ME) sent a letter to President Joe Biden expressing concern about recent media reports that the Department of Defense (DoD) is only expected to request a single DDG-51 Flight III destroyer in the administration’s budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. This would be a reduction from the two destroyers that were previously projected, and it would be a... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) reintroduced legislation to provide additional resources to support the mental health and safety of children and improve educational outcomes for students. The Social-Emotional Learning for Families (SELF) Act would direct the Department of Education to establish a competitive grant program that supports the development, implementation, and evaluation of successful teacher and school... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) pressed nominees for top positions in the Intelligence Community (IC) on the need for the IC to be fully transparent with Congress and the importance of whistleblower protections to promote better governing. Senator King’s comments came during a hearing in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to consider the nominations of Christopher Fonzone to be General Counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and Brett... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today outlined the range of national security threats present on the Korean peninsula – including the destabilizing influence posed by nuclear weapons as well as conventional weapons. During the hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator King also underscored the need for United States to reinforce the strategic relationship between Japan and South Korea in order to strengthen our strategic presence in the region. Senator King’s... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), Chair of the Subcommittee on National Parks, today pressed Shannon Estenoz, nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, on the importance of stable leadership at the National Park Service (NPS) citing that there has not been a Senate-confirmed Director of the NPS since 2017. During his remarks, which came during a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator King also highlighted the need for... Continue Reading »
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King joined a bipartisan group of colleagues in introducing the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2021. The legislation would expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare, make permanent COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities, improve health outcomes, and make it easier for patients to safely connect with their doctors. The bill was led by Senators Brian... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is cosponsoring bipartisan legislation to establish a first-of-its-kind Senate fellowship program for wounded American veterans. The program, called the McCain-Mansfield Fellowship, would give each Senate office the opportunity to hire a qualified veteran for a two-year fellowship. The positions could be in a senator’s state or Washington, D.C., office. The fellowship program’s name honors the... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) led a bipartisan group of their Senate colleagues in reintroducing the Providing Resources for Emergency Preparedness and Resilient Enterprises (PREPARE) Act. The legislation would reauthorize the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Pre-Disaster Mitigation Pilot Program to give small businesses the opportunity to take out low-interest loans for the purpose of proactively implementing mitigation measures to protect... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), co-chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, today pressed Captain Russell Holmes, Director of the Center for Offshore Safety, and Michael Minarovic, Chief Executive Officer of Arena Energy, on steps that their organizations are taking to secure the cyber systems and networks of America’s critical infrastructure. During a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee amid a momentary gas shortage due to the ransomware attack... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, pressed top defense officials on the modernization of the weapons systems they oversee and stressed the importance of ensuring that military technology is continuously updated to deter attacks from foreign threats. The hearing featured testimony from Vice Admiral Johnny Wolfe, Director of Navy Strategic Systems Programs; General Timothy Ray, Commander of the Air... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) is cosponsoring the Caregivers Access and Responsible Expansion (CARE) for Kids Act of 2021, which would expand free school meal eligibility for the many children who currently live with grandparents or other caregivers – a phenomenon that has accelerated in recent years due to crises like the opioid epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation would provide significant financial relief for grandparents or caregivers who unexpectedly... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, Jr., and U.S. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Congressman Jared Golden announced that they will begin accepting nomination applications from Maine high school students for appointments to the United States service academies operated by the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Merchant Marine. No nomination is required to apply to the United States Coast Guard Academy.Students should apply for a nomination in the spring and summer of... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) announced that Maine will receive nearly $1.5 billion in aid to state, county, and local governments through the American Rescue Plan. The funding includes more than $997 million to the State of Maine, more than $221 million to support Maine’s county governments, and a combined total of nearly $241 million for local governments. From the onset of the pandemic, Senator King has strongly called attention to the financial crunch being felt... Continue Reading »
