AUGUSTA, Maine — In the bright and spacious lobby of the Maine Veterans Home, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, proudly showed off the year-old facility to Denis McDonough, U.S. secretary of veterans affairs.
The home replaced a smaller one on the other side of the city. It uses a design concept that divides the facility into separate areas called “houses” to feel more like a home setting than a large institution.
“We have 12 houses, anywhere from 10, 12 to 14 of our veterans or spouses live in (each of) these homes,” the director Jacob Anderson told King and secretary McDonough.
He also told them that one of those housing units was currently empty because they could not find enough staff to operate it. At the same time, he said the home has a waiting list of 500 veterans.
King said he brought the VA Secretary to Maine to learn how veterans are being cared for in Maine and see the continuing needs, in a state with one of the largest percentage of veterans in the country. That, King said, is also one reason he has become far more involved this year in veteran issues.
“I became more and more aware of the responsibilities we have to veterans,” said King, explaining how he went to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and asked to be put on the Senate Veterans Committee.
“I wanted to see if we can make the system work for these people who have given so much. If you think about it, there are very few jobs when you sign up, you put your life on the line. You and I didn’t have to do that,” he said.
King, who at age 79 is preparing to run for a third term in the Senate, also said he felt a more personal reason to get heavily involved in veteran issues.
“Part of what drives me is I don’t want to look back after having this job and say you didn’t do all you could. One of my life mottos is you should regret the things you did and not the things you didn’t do. And that’s what I tell my staff. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something for the country. Let’s be as aggressive as possible.”
King said he has two additional staff members who are focused almost exclusively on veterans issues. That includes the challenge of homeless veterans. Current estimates show more than 200 homeless vets in Maine.
At a forum in Portland, King and McDonough discussed a project to find permanent housing for at least 100 more of those veterans by the end of this year.
“I believe the phrase homeless veterans ought not to exist in our country,” McDonough told the forum audience, to broad applause.
For King, the increased focus and work on veteran issues is combined with ongoing assignments on the Senate Intelligence Committee and Armed Services Committee, both of which have led him to be concerned about the deteriorating relationship between the United States and China,
“It really bothers me that we have these two giant economies and societies lumbering toward each other, toward a conflict. And it would be catastrophic for the world and both countries,” he said.
King is proposing the formation of a special commission to track and evaluate any threats and challenges to the U.S. posed by the actions of the Chinese government.
“When Donald Trump took on China on trade, I think he was right, except he did it by ourselves, instead of enlisting the Europeans or South East Asians to make a concerted confrontation, rather than doing it unilaterally,” King explained.
“We have allies. China has customers. And those allies, as they say in the armed service committee, are our asymmetrical advantage. That’s important to maintain because this can be dealt with if there is a more unified approach rather than us doing it by ourselves,” he said.
Returning to an earlier comment about not wanting to regret a failure to act, King said China, too, is a factor in his decision to seek a third term.
“I’m doing it because I can’t walk away from this moment. Remember what I said about looking back? I don’t want to look back and say you had a chance to help,” he said.