FRYEBURG, Maine — Fryeburg Academy students studying government got the opportunity to chat for an hour with Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who spoke with them from Washington via Zoom on Wednesday morning.
King, 78, previously served as governor of Maine from 1995-2003. He is now in his ninth year in the U.S. Senate, and he said it’s the longest tenure he’s spent in any position he’s had.
King’s press secretary, Zachary Holman, said, “Angus was actually invited by Fryeburg student Melanie Perreault, who has an interest in politics and thought it would be a good learning opportunity to have Sen. King talk about being a senator.”
He gave the Raiders an overview of his job, then turned the floor over to them, taking some questions.
“I just finished a classified briefing in the basement of the Capitol,” King told Ardelle Buck’s class (juniors and seniors) as he walked through a hallway to a “hideaway office” located underneath the edge of the U.S. Senate Chambers, which placed him about a 90-second walk from the Senate floor.
“It’s a small room, about the size of an RV, so I feel right at home,” King joked, and then spoke about a former Raider.
“I remember (Harry) ‘Pinky’ True (who served as headmaster for the academy from 1979-89 and later became a state representative from 1992-2000),” King said.
“Some of you may not remember him, but he was a wonderful educator at Fryeburg Academy and for years and years, he was a terrific legislator. He was truly a great citizen of Maine.”
True (Fryeburg Academy Class of 1953) died May 15, 2008, at age 80 after a short battle with cancer, according to his obituary.
Of his routine as a senator in Washington, King told the students, “no day is like the other.”
He said he started his morning by attending a Senate prayer breakfast that is open only to current and former senators.
He also met with officials in charge of speeding up legislation followed by a meeting in a secure location to discuss the current Ukraine situation.
King serves on four committees: Armed Services, Intelligence, Energy and Natural Resources, and Rules.
“Fifty to 60 percent of my time is spent on foreign policy,” said King, who also chairs the strategic forces subcommittee, which he said is “a fancy way of saying ‘nuclear weapons.’”
King has a staff of between 25-30 in Washington and 15 more staffers in the Pine Tree State.
“You live in one of the most beautiful areas in our state,” King commented with a grin, “though you’re awful close to New Hampshire, but I guess you have to live with that disadvantage.”
King was asked what a normal day is like working with other senators.
“The first thing I ought to say is that, contrary to what you see or hear and read, we don’t hate each other,” he said. “I’m glad you used the term ‘working with other senators’ because that’s the way this place works. And although we have partisan differences, and the parties are battling one another periodically, individually, we do work together.”
King added “We’ve passed, I think, seven major pieces of legislation in the last two years, one of the most productive Congresses in ages, six of the seven were bipartisan. We’ve had support from both sides of the aisle in both houses.”
He said that senators cast their first votes each week on Monday at 5 p.m. and their last votes of the week on Thursday at 1:45 p.m., and then most of the lawmakers head back to their home states.
“One of the problems down here is that we don’t know each other well enough,” King said, adding, “There’s very little time for social interaction for relationships, for getting to know one another. And if you don’t have relationships, it’s hard to build trust. And if you don’t build trust, it’s hard to get things done, particularly things that are controversial or contentious.”
To try to bridge that gap, King hosts “rib night” once a month or every six weeks and invites a half-dozen senators to his home for dinner. He said it offers them a chance to get to know each other better.
He was also asked about the difference between being a governor and a senator.
“I just spoke to a senator this morning who’s running for governor of Indiana, and I told him that (being) the governor is more fun,” King said.
“The difference is that as governor, you can feel that you’re really able to do things, you can set the agenda. … You can lead. Down here, you’re one of a committee of 535, and it’s much harder to feel that you’re actually doing something specific,” King said.
He added: “Here’s the other side, though. As governor, you’re dealing with state issues that are important, no doubt about it. But down here, you’re dealing with issues at the highest level. I get to go to an Armed Services Committee and cross-examine the Secretary of Defense or meet either later today or tomorrow with the Secretary of State before he visits Asia in a few days, so that’s pretty good stuff.”
King said that a few years ago, he went to Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate Majority leader at the time. “I said, ‘Mitch, we’re forming a former governors caucus, I just thought you should know.’ And he said, ‘Well, Angus, I’ll tell you, I found if you have a former governor who’s now a senator, and you ask them which job they like better, if they say senator, you know, they’ll lie to you about other things.’
“So the general attitude here is that the governor is more directly rewarding,” King added. “But I feel like what I’m doing now is absolutely fascinating, engaging and incredibly important for me and the country.”
King was asked about his visit to Ukraine. “It was fascinating. And it was pretty awesome to meet (President of Ukraine) Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” he said. “He’s an amazing guy. We met with him for over an hour. He’s very charismatic and dynamic.”
King added: “I raised the issue of accountability for all this aid that we’re sending them. I was a little nervous about insulting him. But I decided, you know, how many times I’m going to get this chance? And I said, ‘Mr. President, you’ve got to understand if there’s a scandal here, about the misuse of some of this aid, it’s going to really undermine our ability to support you, and it’s going to be a real problem.’ He understood it completely. And in fact, his government is taking some real serious action to deal with possible corruption and those kinds of things. So I was impressed,” he said.
Another question: Why is King an independent?
“It goes back to the early 1990s,” he said. “I had been registered as a Democrat, but because I worked for public broadcasting as a journalist, I was not active. … I was also in business during that period. And I was uncomfortable with what I felt was the Democrats’ greater orientation toward regulation and taxation. On the other hand, I wasn’t comfortable with Republicans’ views on things like social issues, like abortion and gay rights. So, I really didn’t feel fully comfortable in either place.”
King added: “I’m comfortable where I am. I don’t have to have one party or the other tell me, you know, this is the party line, you have to do this. You cannot offend this or that group because they’re big contributors to the party. I avoid all that.
“And frankly, it’s something of a luxury, and I’m very comfortable where I am. I’d say it was partially ideological and partially pragmatic in terms of a function of politics we had in Maine at the time, but it worked out. Here I am, and I think it’s helped me to be more effective,” he said.
