HOULTON, Maine — On Monday, Aug. 24, Rotarian Fred Grant hosted Senator Angus King at the group’s weekly online meeting. There were more than 40 people in attendance at the Zoom meeting, including Rotarians and guests.
Sen. King has been a United States Senator for eight years and has spent much of his career in politics, including serving as the Governor of Maine. He touched on several hot topics during our meeting and gave the club some perspective on how things are in Washington D.C. and why things have been so challenging in recent years.
One of the things is that there is a lot of partisanship and it’s not always a good atmosphere, but on the flip side, things are also better than we might think they are. Most of the Senators know and like each other which may be contrary to what some think. Although he is an Independent as far as political party goes, he must caucus with one side or the other in order to get committee assignments.
Recently Sen. King and his wife bought a home in DC and have made a point to invite fellow senators over in groups so they all have the opportunity to get to know one another. Out of approximately 100 senators, he’s had more than half of them over to his house so everyone could become better acquainted.
COVID-19 has significantly changed things as far as air travel and being able to have groups of people over. One of his favorite days of the week is Wednesday when they have the prayer breakfast. It is a quiet hour in the midst of the craziness; there is no press or staff; it is a non-partisan time to gather together and each week a different senator is selected to speak. It is a good way to get to know your colleagues and build relationships.
Sen. King noted that the Majority Leader has most of the power. It used to be the committees had power, but that is something that has changed, as they only bring things to the floor that they want to regardless of what a committee might want brought to the floor. This gives one person a lot of power.
Another thing that might come as a surprise is that there is no debate in the Senate like there is in the Maine legislature. There is an occasional speech, but there might not even be anyone there. The only time the Senate is together is to vote.
He pointed out that sometimes the Senate can get big things accomplished, contrary to what might be the focus of the news. Most recently, the CARES Act passed unanimously, which is very rare. This Act was to provide relief to businesses and citizens during the recent COVID-19 Pandemic. He also highlighted on the Great American Outdoors Act which was passed to pay the backlog of maintenance costs of our national parks. The Senate is currently in discussion about a second round of the CARES Act.
Senator King told us that his office receives between 3,000-4,000 emails and/or phone calls each week. He meets weekly with staff to learn about what they are hearing from constituents and this helps him know what he needs to focus on and what is on the minds of the Maine people. Hearing from folks back home makes a difference and their voices are heard.
Senator King also fielded questions from the Rotarians. Regarding media coverage, he expanded on the fact that in the past there was really one main news source that everyone had to get their information and today there are a variety of sources which had different agendas and focuses and people watch or listen to what appeals to them. What is portrayed on news and social media isn’t always factual and can cause division.
Regarding how he would handle being President of the United States, he outlined that he would hire the best people he could find regardless of which party they were affiliated with. When a President is elected; essentially, that person is in charge of appointing 1,000 employees. Elected officials often only listen and talk to the people who support and voted for them, so it would be important to him to listen and talk to everyone.
Takeaways from the meeting with Sen. King: relationships are important and taking the time to foster relationships and getting to know one another can be invaluable and “no problem can be solved without compromise.” We appreciate the time Senator King took to meet with our Club and updating us on what is happening in Washington DC.
