BRUNSWICK, ME — U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today joined a group of his Senate colleagues to introduce the Free COVID-19 Testing Act, legislation that would ensure free tests to confirm coronavirus (COVID-19) infections.“We can’t make evidence-based decisions about how to fight this pandemic without evidence,” said Senator King. “This is a public health emergency, and no one should be questioning whether they can afford to get tested. We need to do the right thing for the health of... Continue Reading »
BRUNSWICK, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), co-chair of the Senate Broadband Caucus, and 17 of his colleagues sent a letter to the CEOs of eight major internet service providers (ISPs), calling on the companies to take steps to accommodate the unprecedented reliance we will likely see on telepresence services, including telework, online education, telehealth, and remote support services. In the letter, sent to the CEOS of AT&T, CenturyLink, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) announced that he will be temporarily shifting his Washington, D.C. office operations to telework in response to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Senator King’s decision comes after the Senate Sergeant at Arms instituted new restrictions to the Capitol complex, including closing the Capitol to all tours and preventing visitors from accessing Senate Office Buildings without staff escorts. Yesterday, a Congressional staffer who... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released the following statement in response to the Governor’s announcement that Maine has its first presumptive positive test for novel coronavirus disease, or COVID-19:“Today’s news of Maine’s first presumptive positive COVID-19 diagnosis is both concerning and expected. Given the spread of the disease and its presence in other New England states, it was always likely that the disease would impact Maine people. With this in mind,... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) and Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), co-chairs of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC), today announced the release of the CSC’s report on how to best protect the nation’s critical infrastructure from a cyberattack of significant consequence. In today’s report, the CSC lays out a comprehensive strategy to restore deterrence in cyberspace and provides extensive policy and legislative actions to enable this strategy. The report... Continue Reading »
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, and Senator Angus King announced today that Maine will receive $4,568,000 to help fight the coronavirus. The funding was made available through the $7.8 billion coronavirus appropriations package that passed Congress last week with Senators Collins and King’s support and was signed into law on March 6, 2020.“The coronavirus poses a significant public health threat, particularly to seniors, and a... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, today advocated for his legislation that would address the nearly $12 billion backlog at U.S. National Parks and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) during a hearing featuring U.S. Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt. This week, Senator King led a bipartisan group of senators, in introducing the Great American Outdoors... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) pressed nominees for top Department of Defense (DOD) positions on the need for the DOD to increase collaboration with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs as servicemembers transition out of the military and into civilian life. Senator King, a cosponsor of a bill that would designate a three-digit phone number for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline, emphasized the importance of increasing support for... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, led a bipartisan group of senators to introduce S. 3422, the Great American Outdoors Act, a landmark piece of legislation that will preserve and protect America’s public lands, with Senator Susan M. Collins (R-Maine) as an original cosponsor. The bipartisan legislation includes Senator King’s Restore Our Parks Act, which would address the nearly $12 billion... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asking for details on Secretary Mnuchin’s directive to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to increase tax enforcement efforts on high-income taxpayers. Senator King has strongly pushed to make sure the IRS has the resources it needs to enforce tax laws fairly for all Americans, and in a January letter to OMB highlighted data illustrating that that Americans who earn lower salaries or... Continue Reading »
Washington, D.C. — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today that an additional 35,000 H-2B visas will be made available to employers across the country to fill seasonal jobs – an increase of 5,000 compared to the additional visas allotted last year – for returning workers awarded a seasonal visa in at least one of the last three fiscal years. In December, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) led a bipartisan letter that was signed by 14 Senators to... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON — Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) announced today they are introducing bipartisan legislation in the House and Senate to provide Gold Star Families with free access to National Parks and other federally managed public lands. Gold Star Families are the immediate family members of servicemembers who have died while serving.Specifically, the legislation would make the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Program free for Gold... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) pressed top Navy officials on the importance of the DDG-51 to the Navy’s global operations. During a hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Seapower, Senator King emphasized that the DDG-51 is the “workhorse of the Navy”, and reminded the leaders that steady procurement is vital to ensure that shipyards like Maine’s Bath Iron Works can continue to thrive and make vital contributions to America’s national... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) joined a bipartisan group of senators to urge passage of a legislative package that would enact Senator King’s bipartisan Restore Our Parks Act and would permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). He is one of the lead sponsors of the Restore Our Parks Act, and has championed the effort with Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) since the group first introduced the... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) sharply criticized the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s budget proposal, which would cut research into the fuels of the future by nearly 75% across the board. During a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing featuring U.S. Secretary of Energy, Dan Brouillette, Senator King emphasized that the DOE’s proposed budget would not only cut future research dollars, but also refuse to issue funds previously allocated by Congress... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Energy and Natural Resource Committee (ENR), announced that he has introduced the Battery and Critical Mineral Recycling Act of 2020. This commonsense legislation aims to incentivize the recycling of rechargeable and electrochemical batteries – including lithium ion and other chemistries – needed to meet the United States’ growing clean energy needs and decrease dependence on critical mineral imports. In a letter to ENR... Continue Reading »
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, and Angus King today announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is releasing an additional $3,681,581 in funding for Maine through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which includes $134,848 specifically for tribes and tribal organizations. In November, Senators Collins and King announced more than $36 million for Maine under the first round of... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Office of U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released the February edition of Senator King’s monthly Inside Maine podcast. This month’s show highlights the opportunities presented by the expansion of rural broadband across Maine, as well as emerging bipartisan solutions Senator King is leading to address this important challenge. In the first segment, Senator King is joined by Senator John Boozman (R-Ark.), who co-chairs the bipartisan Senate Broadband Caucus with... Continue Reading »
BRUNSWICK, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today urged Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Robert Wilkie to improve the VA’s payment processing and ensure delayed payments do not harm Maine healthcare providers’ viability – or the veterans who rely on their services. Senator King’s letter specifically references the impact of delays on FirstLight Home Care, a Maine-based personal care agency that decided earlier this week to no longer work with the VA due to delayed payments and a lack of... Continue Reading »
WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, today urged the Committee’s leadership to include King-backed legislation aimed at reducing carbon emissions in any potential legislative package. In a letter to Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), who respectively serve as Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee, King highlighted a number of legislative efforts that would enhance efforts to... Continue Reading »
