King to chair Senate subcommittees on national parks, strategic forces
Courtesy / Office of U.S. Sen. Angus King
U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, is a member of the Senate's Armed Services Committee.
Vowing to protect America's national parks, including Acadia, U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, on Wednesday announced that he has been named chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks.
He was also named chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, which oversees programs related to America’s nuclear and strategic forces, in addition to continuing to serve on the Armed Services, Energy and Natural Resources, Intelligence, and the Rules & Administration committees.
"From Acadia to Zion, America's national parks are treasures that help Americans of all backgrounds connect with the great outdoors and make lifelong memories," King said in a social media statement about his appointment to the National Parks Subcommittee.
He takes up the role six months after then-President Trump signed the landmark Great American Outdoors Act into law that aims to address a maintenance backlog at national parks.
A spokesman for King's office told Mainebiz that one of the first orders of business from a legislative point of view will be to ensure the federal government follows through on the promises of the Great American Outdoors Act, including jobs and beautification at Acadia.
"One of the first orders of business is to follow up on how the administration is executing on the Great American Outdoors Act and the Restore Our Parks Act," King added in a statement emailed to Mainebiz. "Beyond that, I want to hold hearings where we assess the state of our parks and the promise they hold in the future, so we can sustain 'America's Best Idea.'"
Longer term, King said, "We need to talk about where we want the parks to be in 25 years. This is the thrill of a lifetime to be the chair of this subcommittee."
Other roles
In Wednesday's announcement, King said he's equally honored to assume the chairmanship of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, "which plays a critical role in overseeing our nation’s nuclear and strategic forces, including arms control and non-proliferation efforts.
"As the United States grapples with fast-evolving new threats in an increasingly dangerous world, the work of this subcommittee will be vital to maintaining the strongest national security posture possible in the face of both current and future threats.”
King has long advocated for protection of the U.S. electricity grid from cyberattacks, calling the threat one of the most urgent problems from a national security standpoint in a 2017 interview with Mainebiz.
"The grid is vulnerable and we have to be aware of the danger that we face," he said at that time. "We are pretty sure that the Russians have twice knocked out portions of the Ukrainian grid, and I believe that they were practicing. The good news is we have the most advanced grid in the world; the bad news is it makes us asymmetrically vulnerable to an attack."
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