LEWISTON — Gov. Janet Mills spoke Tuesday in front of around 50 veterans and supporters at a Veterans Day service at the Lewiston Armory.

Hosted by the L&A Veterans Council, multiple public and elected officials spoke to remember and honor those who served in the military.

Mills noted that Maine has a long history of residents serving in the military and said she felt privileged to honor those service people.

“We lost more than 9,000 people from Maine in the Civil War alone, more than 2,000 in World War II, 1,000 or so in World War I, it keeps going. So we’ve given our share in the state of Maine,” she said.

As the former district attorney in Androscoggin County for 15 years, the city is a great place to honor veterans, she said. The city has a unique history and part of that history includes those who served in combat and the military, she said.

“It’s a great time to be up here honoring service members not just from Lewiston but from all over the state of Maine,” she said.

A representative for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins was also present at the ceremony and read a letter from Collins, noting this year is the 250th anniversary of the first battle of the American Revolution.

“From the founding of our nation, American men and women have served their country with bravery and passion,” Collins’ letter read. “It is estimated that some 48 million patriots have served in uniform since our nation’s founding.”

Other officials who gave remarks included keynote speaker and former U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, state Sen. Peggy Rotundo, state Rep. Michel Lajoie, Auburn Mayor Jeff Harmon and Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline.

After the ceremony, Mills, who is running for Collins’ U. S. Senate seat along with Democrat Graham Platner, expressed her disappointment in the Senate for its vote to reopen government without first providing funding for Affordable Care Act subsidies to ensure health insurance premiums do not “skyrocket” for millions of Americans, she said.

“Cutting a deal that involves a promise of a vote on something sometime in December doesn’t satisfy the need for lowering premiums and keeping the cost down now,” she said.

“I’m here as governor of the state of Maine fighting to expand health care while those in Washington apparently are ignoring the need and simply going along with the flow and letting those tax credits expire. That’s abysmal.”

She said the lack of a compromise between Republicans and Democrats over reopening the government was indicative of the chaos in D.C. and she placed the blame squarely on President Donald Trump. “They can’t get two things done, they can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.”

Regarding Trump’s ongoing fight to not fund benefits for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), she said the state is doing everything it can to ensure November benefits are issued. She criticized Trump for taking the benefits away from children, seniors and others, all the while making renovations to the White House and hosting expensive “Gatsby”-themed galas in Florida.