WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $6,710,000 in federal funding for three Virginia airports. The funding was awarded through the Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration’s Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Airport Improvement Program (AIP).  

“Virginia’s airports serve thousands of flyers every day and we are thrilled to deliver funding that will make travel through Virginia safer, more convenient, and more accessible for all,” the Senators said. “This funding will allow our Commonwealth’s airports to start important maintenance and planning projects that will help meet their communities’ needs for years to come.”

The funding is distributed as follows:

• $5,000,000 for Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport in Arlington, VA for the construction of a taxiway.
• $1,350,000 for Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport in Newport News, VA for to fund an update to the Airport Master Plan.
• $360,000 for Winchester Regional Airport in Winchester, VA for the construction of a taxiway.

Sens. Warner and Kaine have championed continued investment in Virginia’s airports in order to make travel easier across the Commonwealth. Last month, the Senators announced over $1 million in funding for Luray Caverns Airport in Luray, Virginia courtesy of the AIP. Earlier this year, Sens. Warner and Kaine announced over $29 million in federal funding for improvements to three Virginia airports, Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Norfolk International Airport (ORF), and Richmond International Airport (RIC). Additionally, the Senators have announced nearly $400 million in funding for various Virginia airports secured through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) today announced bipartisan legislation to reform the security classification system in order to reduce overclassification, prevent mishandling of classified information, promote better use of intelligence, and enhance public trust.

“The government systematically overclassifies too much information, at a dangerous cost to both the nation’s security and the public trust.  At the same time, we too often fail to protect the nation’s most important secrets.  As chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I think it is clear that our security classification system is badly in need of change,” said Sen. Warner. “Given the explosion in digital records, the status quo is no longer tenable.  We’ve got too many people with access to a system that is devoid of accountability and has grown increasingly byzantine, bureaucratic, and outmoded. We need to protect our national security secrets, and then declassify those secrets when protections are no longer necessary.  It’s time for Congress to take action and establish accountability.”

“Controlling access to sensitive information enables the U.S. to remain at least one step ahead of its adversaries, but declassification gives us the opportunity to work with our allies around the world and show the American people what their government is doing,” said Sen. Cornyn. “These bills would modernize the process for classification, ensure the safety and security of what should be classified, and make the declassification process more efficient as we seek to strike the delicate balance between transparency and secrecy.”

“Public access to government information is vital to a democratic society. Yet, as has been the case for many years, far too many records are classified. And, because of obsolete technology, far too few of those records ever see the light of day, even after they no longer meet the requirements for classification. One necessary step in addressing this crisis is to put someone in charge of modernizing the system so that records are tracked and then declassified and released when appropriate,” Sen. Wyden said. “This legislation accomplishes that goal by designating the DNI as the Executive Agent for Classification and Declassification, a reform that Senator Moran and I have been pushing for years.  It is also critical that the rules that govern declassification of records be updated and strengthened and that the entities responsible for oversight of the system be empowered.”

“In the digital age, our classification system is absorbing a flood of new, critical information,” said Sen. Moran. “When it comes to declassifying documents, our current analog declassification process is about as effective as using an eye dropper to drain a flood. These deficiencies undermine our national security, and a backlog of unnecessary classified material is harming our ability to protect what should be secret from our enemies. We are long overdue for an overhaul that begins with an up-to-date declassification system in order to better secure our national secrets, and it begins with the legislation introduced today.”

The Classification Reform Act of 2023 will undertake significant reforms to the classification process. Among other steps, it will establish a new system of governance and accountability for the security classification system. It also provides that information may only be or remain classified where the harm to national security reasonably expected from disclosure outweighs the public interest. The legislation sets the maximum period for classification at 25 years, allowing only agency heads or the president to extend classification protections beyond that duration. In addition, the legislation also takes several other substantive steps to improve security while expanding transparency, including by establishing minimum standards for executive branch insider threat programs and mandating a security review of presidential and vice presidential records to ensure that records bearing classification markings are not improperly categorized as personal records and removed from secure facilities. In addition to Sens. Warner, Cornyn, Wyden and Moran, the legislation is co-sponsored by Sens. Angus King (I-ME), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Bob Casey (D-PA).

In addition, the Sensible Classification Act of 2023 will codify classification authority, streamline the processes for declassification, dedicate additional resources to the issue of declassification, invest in new technology to assist with classification reviews, and undertake an evaluation of existing security clearances and their justifications to identify potential areas for additional reforms. In addition to Sens. Warner, Cornyn, Wyden and Moran, the legislation is co-sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Angus King (I-ME), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Bob Casey (D-PA).

A one-pager is available here.

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WASHINGTON?– Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging them to ensure that investments through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), a key Inflation Reduction Act program, serve to strengthen diverse-owned financial institutions dedicated to climate financing in low-income communities and communities of color. Today’s letter comes as the EPA prepares to release the Notices of Funding Opportunity for the GGRF, a competitive grant program to boost clean energy and climate projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities.  

“We write to urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in its review of applications for funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), to give priority to applicants whose proposals fully utilize the diversity of financial institutions engaged in climate finance, including green banks, community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs), as well as center their investment approach on low income and disadvantaged (LID) communities,” wrote the lawmakers in a letter to the EPA. “Specifically, CDFIs and MDIs leverage capital and have a proven track record of providing products and service to the most underserved communities. We urge EPA to heed the lessons learned from the Paycheck Protection Program regarding the importance of being intentional with program design when driving investments in low income and disadvantaged communities.”  

In the letter, the lawmakers stressed the need to award this federal funding so that it goes towards projects and communities that lack access to affordable capital. They also highlighted the importance of ensuring that grant recipients have the structure, diversity, and track record needed to meet the goals of the GGRF. 

“[T]he entities receiving direct federal investment must also demonstrate experience navigating green financing projects and have shown the ability to manage these projects across a variety of communities in order to achieve [Greenhouse Gas] GHG emissions reductions and develop successful projects. It is critical that the EPA balance out these needs for both financial viability and project-level expertise in order to maximize the fund’s performance across all metrics,” they continued. “Additionally, since the Justice40 prioritization should be a floor, not a ceiling, the EPA should require applicants to provide a strategy for how they will drive awareness, demand, and adoption of clean technologies in LID communities. We urge you to learn about community-level solutions that the Fund can support, especially solutions from low-income and disadvantaged communities.” 

Further, the lawmakers urged the EPA to make important adjustments and issue guidance in order to maximize the impact of the funding in vulnerable communities.  

“The success of the program in LID communities depends heavily on the ability to develop an ecosystem that supports other actors, including clean energy and workforce developers. Although the EPA guidance makes available $625,000 for technical assistance for indirect recipients, in order to drive demand and create an ecosystem we recommend that the EPA require some of these funds be aggregated and administered at the national level by the eligible recipient,” they wrote. “The Implementation Framework released by EPA caps the amount per indirect recipient at $5,000,000, which may not be the most impactful way to reach LID communities. For example, some communities have a limited number of mission driven lenders (e.g. CDFI deserts), making the cap on indirect investments have an impact on the amount of climate financing in those communities. We urge you to adjust this limitation on indirect investments to account for more factors, including demand, size of the institution and impact.” 

Among other measures, the lawmakers also suggested that the EPA review the deep impact standards created by the Department of the Treasury for the Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP) – a key initiative created as part of a Warner-championed $12 billion investment?to open up new credit opportunities for low-income communities and communities of color. 

Joining Sen. Warner and Rep. Waters in sending the letter are Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Alex Padilla (D-CA), as well as Reps. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), and Judy Chu (D-CA).  

Text of the letter is available here and below. ? 

Dear Administrator Regan:

We applaud the EPA in taking an important step forward by providing guidance through the Implementation Framework for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and express our continued support for the swift implementation of this critical program. We agree with the EPA’s principles that this program can reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants, deliver benefits of projects to American communities, particularly those in LID communities, and mobilize financing and private capital to stimulate additional deployment of GHG reducing projects.

We write to urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in its review of applications for funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), to give priority to applicants whose proposals fully utilize the diversity of financial institutions engaged in climate finance, including green banks, community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs), as well as center their investment approach on low income and disadvantaged (LID) communities. It is important that EPA adhere to the meaning and intent of Congress in the text of the Inflation Reduction Act (Pub. L. 117-169) (IRA) which highlights a dual mission of reducing greenhouse gases, while impacting LID communities.

In order to meet the objectives and principles outlined in the Implementation Framework, we believe eligible recipients must include meaningful involvement of a variety of financial institutions and business models, including clean financing institutions, community based-financing institutions, and other institutions designed to support clean technology deployment. Specifically, CDFIs and MDIs leverage capital and have a proven track record of providing products and service to the most underserved communities. We urge EPA to heed the lessons learned from the Paycheck Protection Program regarding the importance of being intentional with program design when driving investments in low income and disadvantaged communities. As a result, we believe that an ideal applicant for GGRF funds should have a shared governance structure that is diverse and accountable to local communities, have a plan for continued operability that includes experience investing in or with a variety of mission driven financial institutions, a market transformation approach that effectively crowds-in private capital without displacing otherwise commercially viable investment activities, a strategy for driving demand in LID communities, and an approach that incentivizes a significant amount of investment in the most underserved of the LID communities.

A shared governance structure where decision-making authority is granted to a variety of financial institutions and implementation partners is critical to meeting the goals of the GGRF, particularly in the competition for the National Clean Investment Fund. Mission driven lenders have different business models and products, making it essential that the governing body of the eligible recipient reflect that diversity of expertise and approach. To maximize the program’s success, the governing body must include green banks, CDFIs, MDIs, and other mission driven lenders with experience in climate finance and investment in LID communities. The governing body must be appropriately empowered and go beyond advisory to ensure capital allocation decisions reflect the diversity of business models among indirect recipients and private capital providers. Additionally, the governing body should reflect the demographic diversity of our nation and demonstrate accountability to local communities. 

The IRA includes a “continued operability” requirement that ensures that direct investments be structured to ensure all communities continue to be served beyond the initial award of funds to an eligible recipient.  However, in the Implementation Framework released on April 19, 2023 the EPA decided to separate direct investment and indirect investments into two separate competitions. This policy decision likely eliminates the possibility of cross-subsidies that would ensure continued operability for indirect investments in LID communities, which typically need a deeper subsidy. If the EPA opts to continue with separate competitions, we believe the agency should give priority to applicants that are applying for or collaborating across both competitions, have a strong track record of leveraging private capital, and a demonstrated ability to diversify a portfolio that includes debt, equity and grants in a way that meets the needs of a variety of financial institutions. Without a strong track record, direct recipients will not be able to instill confidence in the capital markets and optimize leverage across the portfolio at the indirect recipient level as well as at the qualified project level. We urge you to continue working closely with the staff from the U.S. Department of the Treasury that have experience internally, and through their consultants, making these types of investments in mission driven lenders. This includes a $12 billion suite of capital and grant programs to support CDFIs, MDIs, and the communities they serve, as well as the renewed State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) that is supporting up to $100 billion in small business loans, investments, and technical assistance through various state, tribal, and territory government programs.  We urge you to collaborate with them to maximize the impact of GGRF for communities that need the support the most.

Similarly, the entities receiving direct federal investment must also demonstrate experience navigating green financing projects and have shown the ability to manage these projects across a variety of communities in order to achieve GHG emissions reductions and develop successful projects. It is critical that the EPA balance out these needs for both financial viability and project-level expertise in order to maximize the fund’s performance across all metrics. The EPA should seek to work with entities that are composed of both impact-oriented institutions as well as green financing entities, to ensure that the goals of impact, performance, GHG emissions reductions and long-term sustainability are achieved.

Furthermore, the impact of the GGRF should not be to crowd out private capital but instead to focus on those eligible projects and communities that lack access to affordable capital. Although the IRA states that eligible recipients should prioritize projects that lack access to financing, the EPA should be focused on market transformation. Displacing affordable private capital focused on the broad use and adoption of clean technologies would run counter to the country’s climate goals.

Additionally, since the Justice40 prioritization should be a floor, not a ceiling, the EPA should require applicants to provide a strategy for how they will drive awareness, demand, and adoption of clean technologies in LID communities. We urge you to learn about community-level solutions that the Fund can support, especially solutions from low-income and disadvantaged communities. In addition, CDFIs and MDIs have a long track record of serving communities long ignored by the traditional banking sector, including the development of financing and financial tools that meet the needs of low-income and disadvantaged communities. Simply put, reducing emissions and lowering energy costs among those communities will be best accomplished through the use of financing tools, grant support, and effective outreach to generate demand, change behavior, and build local capacity.  It’s important that applicants prioritize technologies that will transform LID communities – saving households money on energy costs, creating quality jobs, and improving air quality - and work within the existing debt burden of families in LID communities. However, these communities cannot be served with financing tools alone and will need significant grant support across the value chain to generate demand, change behavior, and build local capacity. The success of the program in LID communities depends heavily on the ability to develop an ecosystem that supports other actors, including clean energy and workforce developers. Although the EPA guidance makes available $625,000 for technical assistance for indirect recipients, in order to drive demand and create an ecosystem we recommend that the EPA require some of these funds be aggregated and administered at the national level by the eligible recipient.

Driving demand will also need to be accompanied by a meaningful level of investment in mission driven lenders in order to change behavior. The Implementation Framework released by EPA caps the amount per indirect recipient at $5,000,000, which may not be the most impactful way to reach LID communities. For example, some communities have a limited number of mission driven lenders (e.g. CDFI deserts), making the cap on indirect investments have an impact on the amount of climate financing in those communities. We urge you to adjust this limitation on indirect investments to account for more factors, including demand, size of the institution and impact.

Finally, we urge you, after defining low income and disadvantaged community, to encourage applicants to the GGRF to structure a significant number of their investments in a way that incentivizes investments in the most underserved low income and disadvantaged communities, including those affected by high rates of adverse health and environmental outcomes. Investments in some underserved communities, like areas of persistent poverty and majority-minority communities, often are more time consuming and costly than in some other communities that are also considered underserved. Also, the definition of LID should include people focused categories, like the CDFI definitions for Low Income Targeted Populations (LITP) and Other Targeted Populations (OTP), to make sure that the low income and minority people who live in the LID communities are also directly benefiting from the GGRF.  We urge you to look at the deep impact standards created by Treasury for the Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP) and encourage eligible recipients to make investments in mission driven lenders that include similar financial incentives for investments in the most underserved communities. 

We share a dedication to decarbonization and justice and hope that we can work together with you and our nation’s mission driven lenders to meet the goals of the GGRF.

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON – As violence between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues for a third week, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA), joined by Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), have formally requested that the Biden administration offer all available support for humanitarian efforts in the region. The worsening conditions in Sudan have resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths and have forced hundreds of thousands to flee in search of safety.

In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power, the senators highlighted the continued and indiscriminate violence, which has significantly worsened the humanitarian situation, and disrupted aid operations on the ground. According to the United Nations, even prior to the recent outbreak in violence nearly 16 million people in Sudan were estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance.

“As the violence has escalated, its impact has been far reaching across all sectors of society. Damage to critical civilian infrastructure, including transportation and communication infrastructure, has limited the ability of people and basic goods to move throughout the country; damage to hospitals, depleted resources, and broken medical supply chains have largely degraded the nation’s health care capacity; and continued conflict has left significant portions of the population sheltering in their homes, with dwindling or exhausted supplies of food, water, and medicine,” the senators wrote. “As the UN’s top humanitarian affairs official said this week, ‘the humanitarian situation is reaching [a] breaking point.’ Unfortunately, this conflict has also deteriorated the flow and delivery of humanitarian assistance into Sudan, and aid groups’ ability to operate on the ground.”

Noting the indiscriminate violence and reported gross violations of international humanitarian law, the senators echoed calls for the parties to the conflict to ensure safe access and movement for humanitarian workers and medical personnel. They requested that the U.S. designate a senior diplomat or envoy to ensure that securing these humanitarian assurances remains a priority in direct negotiations, and that we engage with neighboring countries to help address the cross-border challenges seen from mass movement out of Sudan. Additionally, they voiced support for USAID and State Department efforts to support aid organizations in returning to Sudan quickly and safely, leverage local humanitarian organizations as part of the ongoing response to the violence, and engage with international partners as part of the U.S. response strategy.

The senators continued, “[A]s aid organizations work to reestablish operations, it is vital that the U.S. State Department and USAID provide all available support to facilitate ongoing aid operations on the ground, and support a resumption of efforts – whether in Sudan or in neighboring countries – that have been suspended due to the violence. In response to the significant need, and in part to fill in as international organizations have been forced to suspend their operations, a range of local and national Sudanese organizations have stepped forward to provide capacity. We encourage you to use flexibility in supporting these local efforts, in order to best leverage them alongside international efforts.”

Sens. Warner and Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), have been vocal about their support for aid efforts in Sudan and for the Sudanese diaspora in the United States, which in 2021 totaled more than 54,000 immigrants from Sudan, with the highest concentration located in Fairfax County, VA. Earlier this week, the senators called on the Biden administration to issue a new Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Sudan, which would provide relief from deportation and access to a work permit for foreign nationals from the country currently in the United States.

A copy of the letter can be found here and below. 

Dear Secretary Blinken and Administrator Power,

We write with deep concern regarding the horrific violence in Sudan, and its impact on the rapidly declining humanitarian situation on the ground. Now in its third week, the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left hundreds dead, thousands more injured, and has forced hundreds of thousands of individuals to flee to neighboring regions and countries.

As the violence has severely disrupted humanitarian assistance on the ground – including by forcing some organizations to withdraw or suspend their efforts – we urge that you offer all available support to resume aid operations, take steps to reposition aid resources to reflect the current security environment, leverage local organizations as part of an ongoing response strategy, and continue efforts to marshal an international response.

Direct negotiations facilitated by the United States are critical to the reestablishment of a robust international aid response, and we urge that assurances for immediate and safe aid operations be made a primary focus of those negotiations.

We are deeply grateful for the U.S. Government’s efforts in evacuating U.S. Embassy personnel, and American citizens from Sudan. However, the recent conflict has hit areas like Khartoum and Darfur particularly hard, and it tragically exacerbates the existing crisis and humanitarian need across the country. According to the United Nations (UN), even prior to the recent outbreak in violence nearly 16 million people were estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance – a figure that represents close to a third of the total population in Sudan. Even prior to the start of the conflict, the crisis was already acute – more than 4 million children and pregnant and lactating women are counted as being “severely malnourished.”

As the violence has escalated, its impact has been far reaching across all sectors of society. Damage to critical civilian infrastructure, including transportation and communication infrastructure, has limited the ability of people and basic goods to move throughout the country; damage to hospitals, depleted resources, and broken medical supply chains have largely degraded the nation’s health care capacity; and continued conflict has left significant portions of the population sheltering in their homes, with dwindling or exhausted supplies of food, water, and medicine. As the UN’s top humanitarian affairs official said this week, “the humanitarian situation is reaching [a] breaking point.”

Unfortunately, this conflict has also deteriorated the flow and delivery of humanitarian assistance into Sudan, and aid groups’ ability to operate on the ground. The men and women who work for the U.S. State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as those employed by international relief organizations, have committed themselves to careers seeking to alleviate suffering around the world, oftentimes carrying out this mission in harm’s way. Tragically, in the first two weeks of fighting at least five international aid workers had been killed, and there have been broader threats targeting aid personnel and supplies.

To be clear, the blame for the disruptions to aid and casualties lie with the warring parties. Reported gross violations of international humanitarian law have greatly impacted the safety of aid personnel, and directly contribute to the suffering of the Sudanese people. We echo international calls for the parties to the conflict to ensure safe access and movement for humanitarian workers and medical personnel, and to allow for steady streams of aid into and throughout the country.

In response to the dire humanitarian need, the reestablishment of these aid flows is critical. We understand that organizations are looking at how to best reposition and recalibrate support in light of the serious security risks. We appreciate the direct efforts that the U.S. Government has initiated to support humanitarian assistance, including USAID’s activation of a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) on April 23, and we urge you to take steps to safely reposition and pre-position resources so that they can best be utilized on the ground as soon as possible.

Additionally, as aid organizations work to reestablish operations, it is vital that the U.S. State Department and USAID provide all available support to facilitate ongoing aid operations on the ground, and support a resumption of efforts – whether in Sudan or in neighboring countries – that have been suspended due to the violence. In response to the significant need, and in part to fill in as international organizations have been forced to suspend their operations, a range of local and national Sudanese organizations have stepped forward to provide capacity. We encourage you to use flexibility in supporting these local efforts, in order to best leverage them alongside international efforts.

In an alarming estimate earlier this week, the UN projected that the ongoing conflict may drive more than 860,000 individuals to flee from Sudan into neighboring countries. We have already seen significant levels of migration out of Sudan over the past three weeks, which at many points has overwhelmed border capacity, thereby creating additional humanitarian concerns at these crossings. We welcome U.S. efforts to engage these neighboring countries and the UN to increase border capacity, ensure UN and international non-governmental organizations (INGO) access to these border crossings, provide additional aid along these routes, and scale up planning efforts to account for significant anticipated volume.

It is critical that negotiations involving a ceasefire between the warring parties prioritize the immediate creation of safe and durable humanitarian access to those in need. Additionally, we urge the deployment of an appointed special envoy or other senior diplomat to the region to engage directly with neighboring countries to ensure the free movement of individuals seeking safety out of Sudan, and that UN and INGOs are able to provide needed assistance in these border efforts.

It is vital that the U.S. continue its diplomatic engagement to push for a durable cessation of violence, in partnership with the African Union, and other regional and international partners. This cessation ultimately is the only path towards ensuring that urgent humanitarian needs on the ground are met. It must, however, also be accompanied by a concerted international effort, which fully resources the work done by aid organizations.

We have listened to concerns about what this ongoing violence means for individuals’ loved ones in Sudan, and for the country’s future. We support and encourage all efforts by the U.S. Government to be a forward-leaning and strong partner in the international aid response to this crisis in Sudan. Finally, we request regular updates and briefings from the State Department and USAID on the delivery of humanitarian aid for civilians in Sudan, and from the State Department on the evacuation of American citizens.                                                                                

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today announced $1,820,000 for Virginia universities to research and develop AI capabilities to mitigate cyberattacks. Federal funding will allow the University of Virginia and Norfolk State University to study innovative AI-based approaches to cybersecurity. Researchers from these institutions will collaborate with teams at 10 additional educational institutions and 20 private industry partners to develop revolutionary methods to counter cyberattacks in which AI-enabled intelligent security agents will cooperate with humans to build more resilient networks.

“Addressing the cybersecurity threats that our nation faces requires constant adaptation and innovation, and utilizing AI to counter these threats is an incredibly exciting use-case for this emerging technology,” said Sen. Warner. “This funding will allow teams at the University of Virginia and Norfolk State to do groundbreaking research on ways AI can help safeguard against cyberattacks. I congratulate UVA and NSU on receiving this funding, and I can’t wait to see what they discover and develop. 

The funding is distributed as follows:

·         Norfolk State University will receive $975,000.

·         University of Virginia will receive $845,000.

Funding for these awards is provided jointly by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security, and IBM. Investments are designed to build a diverse AI workforce across the United States. 

Sen. Warner, a former tech entrepreneur, has been a vocal advocate for improving cybersecurity and security-oriented design by AI companies. In April, he sent a series of letters to CEOs of several AI companies urging them to prioritize security, combat bias, and responsibly roll out new technologies. In November 2022, he published “Cybersecurity is Patient Safety,” a policy options paper that outlined current cybersecurity threats facing health care providers and offering a series of policy solutions to improve cybersecurity. As Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Sen. Warner co-authored legislation that requires companies responsible for U.S. critical infrastructure report cybersecurity incidents to the government. He has also introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at building a more secure internet, including the RESTRICT Act, which would comprehensively address the ongoing threat posed by technology from foreign adversaries and the SAFE TECH Act, which would reform Section 230 and allow social media companies to be held accountable for enabling cyber-stalking, online harassment, and discrimination on social media platforms.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the statement below after the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) announced that it would extend current flexibilities around telehealth prescriptions of controlled substances, including those that treat opioid use disorder and anxiety, while it reviews a record number of comments received in response to its new proposed telemedicine rules. This move follows strong advocacy by Sen. Warner, who spoke out in March about the need to ensure that patients can continue getting their medications and sent a letter to DEA in August 2022 asking them to explain their plan for continuity of care after the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.

“I’m pleased to see that the DEA is taking additional time to consider the comments to their proposed rule, which I believe overlooked the key benefits and lessons learned during the pandemic. This proposed rule could counterproductively exacerbate the opioid crisis and push patients to seek dangerous alternatives to proper health care, such as self-medicating, by removing a telehealth option in many cases. I’m working with my colleagues in Congress on a response to DEA’s proposed rule, and I look forward to further robust discussion on this critical issue.”

During COVID-19, patients widely adopted telehealth as a convenient and accessible way to get care remotely. This was made possible by the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, which allowed for a number of flexibilities, including utilizing an exception to the in-person medical evaluation requirement under the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act, legislation regulating the online prescription of controlled substances. With the Public Health Emergency set to expire, patients will soon lose the ability to reap the benefits of a mature telehealth system in which responsible providers know how to take care of their patients remotely when appropriate.  

Since 2008, Congress has directed the DEA to set up a special registration process, another exception process under the Ryan Haight Act, that would open up the door for quality health care providers to evaluate a patient and prescribe controlled substances over telehealth safely, as they’ve done during the pandemic. This special registration process has yet to be established, and DEA wrote they believe this proposed rule fulfills those Congressional mandates, despite not proposing such a registration.

Sen. Warner, a former tech entrepreneur, has been a longtime advocate for increased access to telehealth. He is a co-author of the CONNECT for Health Act, which would expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare, make COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities permanent, improve health outcomes, and make it easier for patients to safely connect with their doctors. He previously wrote to both the Biden and Trump administrations, urging the DEA to finalize regulations long-delayed by prior administrations allowing doctors to prescribe controlled substances through telehealth. Sen. Warner also sent a letter to Senate leadership during the height of the COVID-19 crisis, calling for the permanent expansion of access to telehealth services.

In 2018, Sen. Warner included a provision to expand financial coverage for virtual substance use treatment in the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018. In 2003, then-Gov. Warner expanded Medicaid coverage for telemedicine statewide, including evaluation and management visits, a range of individual psychotherapies, the full range of consultations, and some clinical services, including in cardiology and obstetrics. Coverage was also expanded to include non-physician providers. Among other benefits, the telehealth expansion allowed individuals in medically underserved and remote areas of Virginia to access quality specialty care that isn’t always available at home.

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U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner issued the following statement in regard to the ongoing violence in Sudan:

"It has been tragic to see the violence that has gripped Sudan – violence that has so far left hundreds dead, thousands injured, tens of thousands forcibly displaced from their homes, and so many more terrorized by indiscriminate conflict. My team has heard from many who have shared concerns for family and loved ones back in Sudan, some desperately looking for the opportunity to leave safely. 

"We continue to stay in close and regular communication with the Biden administration regarding the situation in Sudan. I fully support steps the administration has taken to deliver humanitarian assistance, as the recent events exacerbate already dire conditions on the ground, and I strongly back continued diplomatic efforts by the U.S., the African Union, and other international partners pressing for a durable cessation of the violence."

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine released the following statement ahead of the Senate’s historic vote on a resolution that would facilitate the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which was first introduced 100 years ago to guarantee equal protection for women in the U.S. Constitution:

“In 2020, Virginia made history by becoming the 38^th and final state needed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Today, the Senate has the opportunity to make history by voting to remove the time limit for ratification of the ERA. We urge our colleagues to join us in voting to remove this arbitrary and unnecessary time limit and enshrine equality for women into the U.S. Constitution.”

Warner and Kaine are cosponsors of the bipartisan resolution to remove the time limit for ratification of the ERA. In December 2022, Kaine led members of the Virginia delegation, including Warner, in urging a Senate vote on this important resolution.

The ERA was first introduced in 1923 and passed the House and Senate in 1972. At the time of passage, Congress required three-fourths of the states to ratify the amendment within seven years, although the Constitution does not impose a deadline for ratification of amendments. The 27th Amendment was ratified two centuries after it passed Congress. By 1977, 35 states had ratified the ERA, and in 1978, falling short of the required 38 states for adoption, Congress extended the time limit an additional three years. In 2020, Virginia became the 38^th and final state needed for ratification.

If the ERA became the 28^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, it would serve as a new mechanism – for Congress, for federal agencies, and in the courts – to advance equality in the fields of workforce and pay, pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment and violence, and reproductive freedom. It would also signal to the courts that they should apply a more rigorous level of review to laws and government policies that discriminate on the basis of sex, making it more likely for them to be struck down.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today urged CEOs of several artificial intelligence (AI) companies to prioritize security, combat bias, and responsibly roll out new technologies. In a series of letters, Sen. Warner expressed concerns about the potential risks posed by AI technology, and called on companies to ensure that their products and systems are secure.

In the past several years, AI technology has rapidly advanced while chatbots and other generative AI products have simultaneously widened the accessibility of AI products and services. As these technologies are rolled out broadly, open source researchers have repeatedly demonstrated a number of concerning, exploitable weaknesses in the prominent products, including abilities to generate credible-seeming misinformation, develop malware, and craft sophisticated phishing techniques.

“[W]ith the increasing use of AI across large swaths of our economy, and the possibility for large language models to be steadily integrated into a range of existing systems, from healthcare to finance sectors, I see an urgent need to underscore the importance of putting security at the forefront of your work,” Sen. Warner wrote. “Beyond industry commitments, however, it is also clear that some level of regulation is necessary in this field.”

Sen. Warner highlighted several specific security risks associated with AI, including data supply chain security and data poisoning attacks. He also expressed concerns about algorithmic bias, trustworthiness, and potential misuse or malicious use of AI systems.

The letters include a series of questions for companies developing large-scale AI models to answer, aimed at ensuring that they are taking appropriate measures to address these security risks. Among the questions are inquiries about companies' security strategies, limits on third-party access to their models that undermine the ability to evaluate model fitness, and steps taken to ensure secure and accurate data inputs and outputs. Recipients of the letter include the CEOs of OpenAI, Scale AI, Meta, Google, Apple, Stability AI, Midjourney, Anthropic, Percipient.ai, and Microsoft.

Sen. Warner, a former tech entrepreneur, has been a vocal advocate for Big Tech accountability and a stronger national posture against cyberattacks and misinformation online. He has introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at addressing these issues, including the RESTRICT Act, which would comprehensively address the ongoing threat posed by technology from foreign adversaries; the SAFE TECH Act, which would reform Section 230 and allow social media companies to be held accountable for enabling cyber-stalking, online harassment, and discrimination on social media platforms; and the Honest Ads Act, which would require online political advertisements to adhere to the same disclaimer requirements as TV, radio, and print ads.

A copy of the letters can be found here and below. 

I write today regarding the need to prioritize security in the design and development of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. As companies like yours make rapid advancements in AI, we must acknowledge the security risks inherent in this technology and ensure AI development and adoption proceeds in a responsible and secure way. While public concern about the safety and security of AI has been on the rise, I know that work on AI security is not new. However, with the increasing use of AI across large swaths of our economy, and the possibility for large language models to be steadily integrated into a range of existing systems, from healthcare to finance sectors, I see an urgent need to underscore the importance of putting security at the forefront of your work. Beyond industry commitments, however, it is also clear that some level of regulation is necessary in this field.

I recognize the important work you and your colleagues are doing to advance AI. As a leading company in this emerging technology, I believe you have a responsibility to ensure that your technology products and systems are secure. I have long advocated for incorporating security-by-design, as we have found time and again that failing to consider security early in the product development lifecycle leads to more costly and less effective security. Instead, incorporating security upfront can reduce costs and risks. Moreover, the last five years have demonstrated that the ways in which the speed, scale, and excitement associated with new technologies have frequently obscured the shortcomings of their creators in anticipating the harmful effects of their use. AI capabilities hold enormous potential; however, we must ensure that they do not advance without appropriate safeguards and regulation. 

While it is important to apply many of the same security principles we associate with traditional computing services and devices, AI presents a new set of security concerns that are distinct from traditional software vulnerabilities. Some of the AI-specific security risks that I am concerned about include the origin, quality, and accuracy of input data (data supply chain), tampering with training data (data poisoning attacks), and inputs to models that intentionally cause them to make mistakes (adversarial examples). Each of these risks further highlighting the need for secure, quality data inputs. Broadly speaking, these techniques can effectively defeat or degrade the integrity, security, or performance of an AI system (including the potential confidentiality of its training data). As leading models are increasingly integrated into larger systems, often without fully mapping dependencies and downstream implications, the effects of adversarial attacks on AI systems are only magnified.

In addition to those risks, I also have concerns regarding bias, trustworthiness, and potential misuse or malicious use of AI systems. In the last six months, we have seen open source researchers repeatedly exploit a number of prominent, publicly-accessible generative models – crafting a range of clever (and often foreseeable) prompts to easily circumvent a system’s rules. Examples include using widely-adopted models to generate malware, craft increasingly sophisticated phishing techniques, contribute to disinformation, and provide harmful information. It is imperative that we address threats to not only digital security, but also threats to physical security and political security.

In light of this, I am interested in learning about the measures that your company is taking to ensure the security of its AI systems. I request that you provide answers to the following questions no later than May 26, 2023.

Questions: 

1.     Can you provide an overview of your company’s security approach or strategy?

2.     What limits do you enforce on third-party access to your model and how do you actively monitor for non-compliant uses?

3.     Are you participating in third party (internal or external) test & evaluation, verification & validation of your systems?

4.     What steps have you taken to ensure that you have secure and accurate data inputs and outputs? Have you provided comprehensive and accurate documentation of your training data to downstream users to allow them to evaluate whether your model is appropriate for their use?

5.     Do you provide complete and accurate documentation of your model to commercial users? Which documentation standards or procedures do you rely on?

6.     What kind of input sanitization techniques do you implement to ensure that your systems are not susceptible to prompt injection techniques that pose underlying system risks?

7.     How are you monitoring and auditing your systems to detect and mitigate security breaches?

8.     Can you explain the security measures that you take to prevent unauthorized access to your systems and models?

9.     How do you protect your systems against potential breaches or cyberattacks? Do you have a plan in place to respond to a potential security incident? What is your process for alerting users that have integrated your model into downstream systems? 

10. What is your process for ensuring the privacy of sensitive or personal information you that your system uses?

11. Can you describe how your company has handled past security incidents?

12. What security standards, if any, are you adhering to? Are you using NIST’s AI Risk Management Framework?

13. Is your company participating in the development of technical standards related to AI and AI security?

14. How are you ensuring that your company continues to be knowledgeable about evolving security best practices and risks? 

15. How is your company addressing concerns about AI trustworthiness, including potential algorithmic bias and misuse or malicious use of AI?

16. Have you identified any security challenges unique to AI that you believe policymakers should address?

Thank you for your attention to these important matters and I look forward to your response. 

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) today voted to pass the Fire Grants and Safety Act, legislation to ensure years of continued funding for grant programs that support fire departments and firefighters all across the Commonwealth. Today’s vote in the Senate comes as two critical funding programs near their 2024 expiration deadline.

“Virginia firefighters routinely put themselves at risk to save lives and stop catastrophe in its tracks. We are proud to have voted to continue delivering the federal dollars fire departments need to keep serving their communities. We urge our colleagues in the House to pass this bill expeditiously and send it to the President’s desk so that firefighters can count on the resources they need to stay safe and retain a solid frontline workforce,” said the Senators. 

Specifically, this legislation would reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, which provides funding to help firefighters and other first responders obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources necessary for protecting the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards. It would also reauthorize the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program, which provides funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help them increase or maintain the number of trained, "front line" firefighters available in their communities.

Since 2015, more than 253 AFG grants and 72 SAFER grants have been awarded to communities throughout the Commonwealth, with Virginia fire departments receiving more than 8 million dollars from these programs in this year alone.

So far, in 2023, the following localities have received funding through the Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) grant program:

• Isle of Wight County received $959,020
• The City of Alexandria received $600,000
• The City of Lynchburg received $830,636
• Franklin County received $438,238
• The Bland County Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. received $163,476
• The Scruggs Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad, Inc. in Franklin County received $66,666

So far, in 2023, the following localities have received funding through the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program:

• The City of Manassas Park received $3,582,866
• Rappahannock County received $561,617
• Goochland County received $556,972
• The Town of Chatham received $204,804
• Hanover County received $41,800 
• Stephens City Fire And Rescue Company, Inc. in Frederick County received $21,068

This legislation, passed by the Senate, will now head to the House of Representatives.

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WASHINGTON –U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) joined Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and 12 colleagues in introducing a resolution that would designate April 2023 as “Preserving and Protecting Local News Month.” The resolution officially recognizes the role of local news as an essential function for democracy in the United States.

“In Virginia and across the country, local news outlets are relied on to keep our citizens informed, combat disinformation, and serve as a crucial check on our government institutions,” said Sen. Warner. “It is important that we continue to honor the hard work that local journalists do for our Commonwealth and for our democracy in the face of continued budget cuts, newsroom closures, and staff reductions that have made their work more challenging.” 

According to research, the overall employment in newspaper, television, radio, and digital newsrooms in the United States fell by 26 percent, or 30,000 jobs, from 2008-2020. More than 100 local newsrooms were forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 30 percent of local television stations reporting budget cuts and staff reductions. As of September 2022, 42 local newspapers have closed or merged in Virginia alone, with significant staff cuts plaguing surviving papers. This resolution affirms the significance of local news in increasing civic engagement and strengthening democratic norms and practices, and acknowledges the valuable contributions of local journalism toward the maintenance of healthy and vibrant communities.

In addition to Sens. Warner and Schatz, the resolution is co-sponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).

The resolution has been endorsed by PEN America; Alliance for Community Media; Free Press Action; National Press Photographers Association (NPPA); Native American Journalists Association (NAJA); Writers Guild of America, East, AFL-CIO; Ethnic Media Services; Society of Environmental Journalists; Society for News Design; Common Cause; Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO; National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); Native Public Media; Public Knowledge; Society of Professional Journalists; Theatre Communications Group; National Newspaper Association (NNA); National Writers Union (NWU); and National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).

 Sen. Warner has long been an outspoken supporter of local news. In the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Sen. Warner led colleagues in a push to include local journalism and media outlets in relief packages.

Full text of the resolution is available here.

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WASHINGTON – Today, following a federal district court judge’s ruling suspending the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s 2000 approval of mifepristone, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, along with 238 other members of Congress, submitted an amicus brief urging a higher court to prevent that dangerous ruling from going into effect. Mifepristone is a safe and effective medication that has been widely used for abortion care and miscarriage management for over two decades. The Department of Justice announced on Monday that it would appeal the lower court ruling and ask the Fifth Circuit to stop the ruling from going into effect.

The lawmakers’ brief underscores that the district court ruling denies access to mifepristone in every state, posing serious health risks to pregnant patients, and jeopardizes patients’ access to other medications by threatening FDA’s drug approval process, which was mandated by Congress. Accordingly, the brief asks the Fifth Circuit to pause the district court’s order.

“The district court appears to have second-guessed FDA’s scientific determinations with cherry-picked anecdotes and studies, and on that basis, imposed a remedy that could significantly upend the status quo,” write the lawmakers in their brief.

If the Fifth Circuit allows the district court ruling to go into effect, the members stress that patients in every state may be denied access to the most common form of abortion care and a key drug used in miscarriage management. This ruling would also undermine FDA’s authority to determine the safety and efficacy of other drugs , threatening patients’ access to medications. The members also explain that Congress specifically designed FDA’s expert-driven drug approval process to ensure that the medications relied on by Americans are safe and effective. FDA followed that careful review process in its approval of mifepristone for use in 2000, and that approval has been repeatedly affirmed in the more than 20 years since.

“[T]he district court’s misguided stay under Section 705 of the Administrative Procedure Act will reduce access to abortion, exacerbating an already significant reproductive health crisis,” write the lawmakers, adding: “The consequences of the district court’s remedy could extend far beyond mifepristone, for it undermines the science-based, expert-driven process that Congress designed for determining whether drugs are safe and effective.”

“Its perilous consequences reach far beyond mifepristone. Providers and patients rely on the availability of thousands of FDA-approved drugs to treat or manage a range of medical conditions, including asthma, HIV, infertility, heart disease, diabetes, and more,” the lawmakers state.

“For the last century, a statutory scheme designed by Congress has assured the safety and effectiveness of the drugs available in the United States. At its core resides the application of scientific standards by agency experts,” the lawmakers write. “Here, FDA’s determination that mifepristone is safe and effective is based on a thorough and comprehensive review process prescribed and overseen by the legislative branch.  Since mifepristone’s initial approval in 2000, FDA has repeatedly and consistently reaffirmed that the medication is safe and effective for its approved conditions of use. FDA’s process and conclusions have been validated by both Congress and the Government Accountability Office—and by the lived experience of over 5 million patients who have used the drug in the United States.”

The lawmakers conclude by asking the Fifth Circuit to stay the decision, writing: “emergency relief from the order is necessary to mitigate the imminent harm facing members of the public, many of whom rely on the availability of mifepristone for reproductive care—and many more rely on the integrity of FDA’s drug approval process for continued access to life-improving and life-saving drugs. Congress intended to—and did—vest authority in FDA to evaluate and ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs in the United States, and Amici call on this Court to give due weight to that intent.” 

In addition to Warner and Kaine, the amicus brief was signed by U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Jon Tester (D-MT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR). 190 members of the House of Representatives also signed the amicus brief.

The amicus brief is available here.

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