WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released a video of his remarks for the Maine Emergency Management Agency’s (MEMA) 10^th Annual Emergency Preparedness Conference, a two-day conference held today and tomorrow at the Augusta Civic Center. During his remarks, Senator King commended Maine’s first responders for the critical work they do to keep Maine people safe in their communities and underscored the importance of communication and coordination for emergency preparedness.

            “I think one of the most important things about what you do is preparing the relationships,” Senator King said. “There’s focus on weather reporting, and on cots, and on National Guard preparedness – the sort of physical preparedness. But I think one of the most important things you’re doing is things like this – meeting together, getting to know each other, establishing relationships and communications links – because when disaster strikes, it can’t be handled simply by MEMA personnel, or the State Police, or the National Guard, or the local preparedness people in the counties or in the communities. There’s got to be – as we learned in the Ice Storm – a real cooperative relationship.”

The MEMA 10^th Annual Emergency Preparedness Conference this year is offering more than thirty individual workshops related to recovery, communications, resilience, emergency management, healthcare and technological hazards. Greg Forrester, President & CEO of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters, and Pat Murtagh, CEO of the American Red Cross, are this year’s featured keynote speakers. The conference is sponsored by MEMA, the State Emergency Response Commission and the Maine Association of Local Emergency Managers.

Throughout his public service, Senator King has made emergency preparedness and coordination a top priority. Senator King was Governor of Maine during the Ice Storm of 1998, and oversaw a statewide effort to help the hundreds of thousands of Maine citizens left without power following the January storm. In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which left millions of U.S. citizens without power last fall, Senator King announced his support for the Rebuilding Resilient Energy Systems Act, legislation that would encourage the building of more resilient energy systems in response to the natural disasters declared during 2017. Through his work on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Intelligence Committee, Senator King introduced the Securing Energy Infrastructure Act, bipartisan legislation that would help defend the U.S. energy grid against cyberattacks. Senator King is also a member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus and is an advocate for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, which helps Maine’s first responders get the tools they need to do their jobs.

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