WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced $55.985 million in new federal funding for communities in Hampton Roads, Richmond, and on the Eastern Shore for water infrastructure improvements. The funding is awarded through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ “Work Plan,” a source of funds provided by Congress for the Corps to allocate to ongoing projects. Warner and Kaine advocated directly to Army Corps leadership on behalf of many of these projects in Virginia. 

“We fought for these key infrastructure projects because Virginia’s waterways play a critical role in the economies of coastal communities,” the Senators said. “From dredging and beach replenishment to cleaner rivers to new oyster habitats to new infrastructure for the Port of Virginia, these investments will help us protect coastal communities and the environment while growing the regional tourism and port commerce economies.” 

In response to the funding for Virginia Beach projects, Mayor Louis Jones said, “Each project will have substantial positive impacts on the City of Virginia Beach, its businesses and residents. We appreciate Senator Kaine, Senator Warner and Congressman Taylor advocating so effectively for these projects in our city.” 

Earlier this year, Warner and Kaine helped successfully include over $51 million for Virginia projects in the Army Corps civil works program as part of the recent omnibus government funding bill.  

The $55.985 million in funding will be awarded as follows:

Additional details on each type of funding are below:

Construction funds are granted to build current projects.

Investigations funds are granted to advance projects through the study phase, which will end with a document analyzing what specific infrastructure is needed for a project, how much it will cost, and what percentage the federal government will fund.

Operations and Maintenance funds are granted to operate and maintain federal navigation channels and other permanent Army Corps infrastructure projects.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) introduced legislation that promotes family unity by prohibiting U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials from separating children from their parents, except in extraordinary circumstances. Sens. Warner and Kaine also joined 38 of their Senate colleagues in a letter urging the Trump Administration to stop further traumatizing children and end Trump’s inhumane policy of separating innocent boys and girls from families who cross the southwest border seeking asylum in the United States.

The policy was put in place by the Trump Administration last month even though current immigration law does not require the U.S. government to separate immigrant parents from their children. Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Trump’s so-called “zero-tolerance” policy, hundreds of children have been separated from their parents and are being held in detention centers and other institutional facilities.

“Separating children from their parents at the border, many of them coming here desperate to escape the terrible violence in their countries, is a policy that is directly at odds with the fundamental values of this nation. This unprecedented and inhumane practice has been condemned by the U.N., is not rooted in any law, and could end today should President Trump choose to do so,” said Sen. Warner. “Instead, the President has used this new policy to terrorize innocent families as a means of deterring those who are legally seeking asylum in our country. In the absence of moral leadership from the White House, Congress should make it clear that the United States of America will continue to stand proud as a country welcoming of those seeking refuge from violence, poverty, and prejudice.” 

“The Trump Administration’s policies trample on American values by tearing families apart and demonizing people seeking refuge,” Sen. Kaine said. “This bill is an effort to protect kids from unnecessary harm by keeping families together and putting in place safeguards for children who have been separated from their parents.”

The Keep Families Together Act will: 

·         Keep families together: The bill promotes family unity by prohibiting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials from separating children from their parents, except in extraordinary circumstances.  In these limited circumstances, separation could not occur unless parental rights have been terminated, a child welfare agency has issued a best interest determination, or the Port Director or the Chief Border Patrol agent of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have approved separation due to trafficking indicators or other concerns of risk to the child.

·         Increase Child Welfare Training: The bill requires all CBP officers and agents to complete child welfare training on an annual basis. Port Directors and Chief Border Agents, those who authorized to make decisions on family separations, must complete an additional 90 minutes of annual child-welfare training.

·         Establish public policy preference for family reunification: The bill establishes a preference for family unity, discourages the separation of siblings, and creates a presumption that detention is not in the best interests of families and children.

·         Implement procedures for Separated Families: The bill requires DHS to develop policies and procedures allowing parents and children to locate each other and reunite if they have been separated. Such procedures must be public and made available in a language that parents can understand. In cases of separation, it requires DHS to provide parents with a weekly report containing information about a child.

·         Establish other required measures: In order to inform Congressional oversight and promote public understanding of the use family separation, the bill requires an annual report on the separation of families. Additionally, the bill requires the GAO examine the prosecution of asylum seekers.

Separately, in a letter to President Trump signed by 40 Senators, Sens. Warner and Kaine urged the Administration to stop the policy of separating children from their families at the southern border. The letter echoes the message of more than 540 state and national child development, child welfare and juvenile justice groups from all 50 states that sent a similar letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen. Citing the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Senators stressed the short- and long-term damage to these children from being unnecessarily separated from their families.

“We are writing to ask that you reverse course on your inhumane decision to separate children from their parents at the border,” the Senators said in a letter to Trump. “This policy has traumatized children who are fleeing extreme violence. Our government has a humanitarian duty to the children and families seeking asylum in the United States to end this policy immediately.”

The Senators underscored that the Administration’s cruel and unnecessary separations run counter to widely accepted standards of care that prioritize keeping children and families together whenever possible. 

“Best practices in child welfare promote keeping children and their parents together unless removal is in the child’s best interest,” the Senators added.“Unnecessarily separating more children from their parents will further exacerbate the lack of home-based foster care placements available and increase the use of large-capacity institutional settings, such as abandoned military bases, to house these children.”

Joining Sens. Warner and Kaine on the letter were Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tom Udall (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tom Carper (D-DE), Tina Smith (D-MN), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Angus King (I-ME), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Brian Schatz (D-HI).

To read the text of the bill, click here. Read the full text of the letter here. 

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released the following statement after Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed into law the state budget that expands Medicaid:

“After years of working on this issue that affects families across the Commonwealth, we are thrilled that hundreds of thousands of Virginians who currently lack basic health care coverage will finally have some peace of mind. Today’s historic signing shows a good faith effort by legislators to provide health insurance for Virginians who need it the most.  We are grateful for the tireless work Governor Northam and the leaders of the General Assembly have shown to ensure the stability and well-being of hardworking families. We are ready to assist the Governor and his administration as Virginia begins the process of full expansion.” 

Virginia is now one of 33 states across the country that have expanded Medicaid. Up to 400,000 low-income adults in Virginia will now be eligible for Medicaid health coverage.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today released the following statement:

“We are troubled to hear of the charges filed against a former member of the Committee staff. While the charges do not appear to include anything related to the mishandling of classified information, the Committee takes this matter extremely seriously. We were made aware of the investigation late last year, and have fully cooperated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice since then. Working through Senate Legal Counsel, and as noted in a Senate Resolution, the Committee has made certain official records available to the Justice Department.

“This news is disappointing, as the former staffer in question served on the Committee for more than three decades, and in the Armed Forces with distinction. However, we trust the justice system to act appropriately and ensure due process as this case unfolds. This will in no way interfere with our ongoing investigation, and the Committee remains committed to carrying out our important work on behalf of the American people.”

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued a report that for the first time in years provided a snapshot of the contingent and alternative worker population.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Contingent Worker and Alternative Work Arrangement Supplement (CWS) to the Current Population Survey (CPS)  is considered the gold standard of measuring who is doing what in the American workforce, but data about the size and scope of the contingent workforce had not been collected since 2005 after its funding was eliminated. Since then, the federal government had struggled to keep up with an explosion in new technology and changes to the nature of work that have increased the range of opportunities for workers to pursue flexible arrangements. In the Senate, Sen. Warner led the charge in restoring funding to help collect this data and requesting the Department of Labor to relaunch the survey that culminated in this report.

 “The federal government and the general public have lacked for many years reliable data to help paint a clear picture of our contingent workforce and their future. Without this crucial information, policymakers and experts are in the dark about the size and needs of this population, making it harder to find common ground on solutions that will help them navigate our intricate labor market. For this reason, I urged the federal government to re-establish these best practices and issue this report, which will help provide us with a direct understanding of what this part of our workforce looks like.

“Today’s news show that contingent workers play a significant role in our economy, with tens of millions of Americans - more than one in ten workers - identified as independent contractors, temps, and contract-firm workers. An while the data shows that there’s been a downward shift in the number of people who rely on contingent work as their main job, we still don’t know how many of them do so in order to supplement their income. Without this crucial piece of data, it will be tough for us to make an accurate assessment of the best way to help this dynamic segment of workers receive more training and resources, access a system of portable benefits they can carry from job to job, and file their taxes and claim deductions and credits. I will continue pushing the federal government and outside experts to fill-in these gaps and provide a full picture of this part of our workforce, and expect to seek more information on the tax challenges of these workers in the near future.”    

For years, Sen. Warner has been urging the federal government to collect better, more complete data on the number and type of workers who are part of the contingent workforce economy. Estimates of the contingent labor force range from a few percentage points to nearly a third of the American labor force engaging in some type of independent work arrangement. 

Last year, Sen. Warner introduced bipartisan legislation to test and evaluate innovative portable-benefits models for independent workers. He is also the author of bipartisan legislation aimed at increasing the availability of job training to lower- and moderate-income workers, in an effort to stay on top of the rapidly changing technology and skills requirements for today’s workforce.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), released the following statement on the passing of Gene W. Adkins, Chief of the Chickahominy Indian Eastern Division:

“I’m very sad to learn Chief Adkins of the Chickahominy Indian Eastern Division passed away this weekend. I had the privilege of working with Chief Adkins for many years to secure federal recognition for the Chickahominy, and I’m glad he lived to see his and five other tribes win that battle for justice and respect earlier this year. My heart is with Chief Adkins’ family and the Chickahominy people during this tough time.”

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement on the annual reports to Congress from the Medicare and Social Security trustees:

“These reports share some of the hard truths I have laid out since I first came to Congress. We need to work together to strengthen Social Security and Medicare so they can still be here for future generations. But it is a sad state of affairs when my Republican colleagues seem to only be concerned about deficit spending and exercise fiscal discipline when they don’t control Congress or the White House. This became clear when they abandoned common sense and embraced fantasyland economics to pass  $2.5 trillion in unpaid tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy and corporations, who continue to spend their tax cuts on share buybacks instead of investing in our workforce. It is time for members of both parties to come together to address our long-term fiscal situation and find a balanced solution that assures the success of these two vital entitlement programs.”

Washington, DC – Today, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting that the Department of Justice confirm that they have not given the President’s outside counsel, White House staff or the President access to the same classified information briefed to Congress. 

“We remain deeply troubled by President Donald Trump and his legal team’s persistent efforts to interfere with the Special Counsel’s ongoing investigation and undermine your agencies’ lawful activities,” the Members wrote in the letter. “These developments leave us concerned that, through his legal team or otherwise, the President will continue to pressure your agencies to divulge investigative information which he, his attorneys, and his congressional allies then could manipulate or even disclose publicly for the President’s benefit. That would be a terrible abuse of power.”

In the letter, Schumer, Pelosi, Warner and Schiff also request confirmation that the DOJ and FBI have no plans to convey such information to the same individuals in the future outside of appropriate judicial proceedings, and that going forward, the DOJ will not brief additional Members of Congress beyond the “Gang of 8” on these matters.

After the May 24 briefing to the “Gang of 8,” Schumer, Pelosi, Warner and Schiff released the following statement: “Nothing we heard today has changed our view that there is no evidence to support any allegation that the FBI or any intelligence agency placed a ‘spy’ in the Trump Campaign, or otherwise failed to follow appropriate procedures and protocols.”

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The full letter is below:

Dear Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and Director Wray:

We remain deeply troubled by President Donald Trump and his legal team’s persistent efforts to interfere with the Special Counsel’s ongoing investigation and undermine your agencies’ lawful activities.     

Most recently, Rudy Giuliani, one of the President’s personal attorneys, repeated publicly that the White House and the President’s lawyers expect access to classified information of the utmost sensitivity related to the Special Counsel’s ongoing investigation. Executive agencies earlier had briefed this information to select Members of Congress in response to a publicly-announced directive from President Trump.  Giuliani also said that the President will refuse to be interviewed by the Special Counsel, unless the President’s attorneys are permitted to review related classified documents.

These demands, if fulfilled, would grossly violate our system of checks and balances, established procedure and fundamental norms. Although he has not been indicted, President Trump’s own conduct reportedly remains under examination by the Special Counsel. And absent an indictment, the subjects of federal investigation cannot access law enforcement or related national security information for any reason.

As the President’s attorney has made clear, his legal team wishes to obtain the classified information at issue, not for any legitimate purpose—but instead to frustrate and discredit publicly the work of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  

These developments leave us concerned that, through his legal team or otherwise, the President will continue to pressure your agencies to divulge investigative information which he, his attorneys, and his congressional allies then could manipulate or even disclose publicly for the President’s personal or political benefit. That would be a terrible abuse of power. 

We thus respectfully request that the Department of Justice confirm, in writing, by no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, June 11:  

(1)   that the following parties have not been given access to the classified information, which executive branch agencies briefed to the “Gang of 8” on May 24, 2018:

·         Rudy Giuliani, Jay Sekulow, or any other attorney who represents or has represented President Trump in his personal capacity;

·         White House staff, including attorneys from the White House Counsel’s office;

·         President Donald J. Trump;

(2)   that DOJ and FBI have no plans to convey such information in the future to the President and his attorneys outside of an appropriate judicial proceeding; and

(3)   that going forward, DOJ and FBI will not brief additional Members of Congress who are not part of the “Gang of 8” on these matters.

Thank you for your immediate attention to our concerns, which are of the utmost urgency.  We look forward to your reply. 

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, joined top Senate Democrats in sending a letter to President Trump outlining conditions for lifting sanctions as part of any deal with North Korea. The new letter comes ahead of the expected summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to discuss North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and specifically lists five principles through which the Senators plan to evaluate any deal the President makes with North Korea. The Senators also say that Congress must act as a check on any agreement that does not live up to these principles by imposing tougher sanctions and oversight and the Trump administration must engage Congress throughout any diplomatic process – both before and after the possible summit - given the magnitude of this effort.

In order to earn the support of these Senate leaders for any deal that provides sanctions relief to North Korea, Sen. Warner and others specifically outlined in the letter to President Trump that a deal with North Korea must:  

1. Dismantle or remove every single one of North Korea’s nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons; 

2. End the production and enrichment of uranium and plutonium for military purposes, and permanently dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons infrastructure. This includes the destruction of test sites, all nuclear weapons research and development facilities and enrichment facilities;

3. Suspend all of North Korea’s ballistic missile tests and disable, dismantle and eliminate all of North Korea’s ballistic missiles and programs.  

4. Commit to robust compliance inspections including a verification regime for North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Inspections must have complete access to all nuclear related sites and facilities with real time verification of North Korean compliance.  A separate compliance regime for its chemical and biological weapons that prevents, detects and punishes cheating on the part of North Korea is also necessary.  These compliance regimes must include “anywhere, anytime” inspections and snap-back sanctions if North Korea is not in full compliance;  

5. Be permanent, without any sunsets.

In addition to Sen. Warner, the letter was signed by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Bob Menendez, Assistant Senate Democratic Leader and Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Ranking Member Dick Durbin, Senate National Security Working Group Co-Chair Dianne Feinstein, Senate Appropriations Committee Vice-Chair and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Ranking Member Patrick Leahy, and Senate Committee on Banking Housing and Urban Affairs Ranking Member Sherrod Brown. 

The full text of the letter appears below.

The Honorable Donald J. Trump

President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC  20500

Dear Mr. President: 

As you prepare for your June 12 meeting with Kim Jong Un, we write to express our desire for a diplomatic solution which provides for the complete dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, as well as a broader process to address North Korea’s extensive military arsenal and to set the conditions for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.  A successful diplomatic agreement with North Korea, along with our allies South Korea and Japan and in cooperation with China, would represent an historic accomplishment for our nation.

It is widely recognized that North Korea has been seeking to develop the ability to launch a nuclear attack against the United States and Kim Jong Un has threatened to do so. In his May 24 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary Pompeo stated that the goal of the administration’s policy is that “we are looking for the complete dismantlement of their weapon systems, the delivery capability associated with that, and all of the elements of their program that would lead them to have material that could be used at some time to build out a weapon system.” 

In order to achieve the goal of the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and key missile programs, and as you develop your administration’s policy and strategy in advance of your on-again, off-again, and now seemingly on-again meeting with Kim Jong Un in Singapore, we therefore urge you to consider the following principles and goals for U.S. diplomacy and policy with regards to North Korea.

First, any agreement with North Korea must build on the current nuclear test suspension and ultimately include the dismantlement and removal of all nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons from North Korea.  Sanctions relief by the U.S. and our allies should be dependent on dismantlement and removal of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.  Any deal that explicitly or implicitly gives North Korea sanctions relief for anything other than the verifiable performance of its obligations to dismantle its nuclear and missile arsenal is a bad deal.

China, we believe, will continue to play a critical role if North Korea moves to halt, dismantle, and remove its nuclear weapons, and we urge you to maintain a tough approach to China to assure that it, in turn, will do all it can to help secure an agreement and then insist on strict North Korean compliance with such an agreement.

Second, our goal must be the full, complete and verifiable denuclearization of North Korea. This must include the removal of all nuclear weapons and military-related fissile material from North Korea; ending the production and enrichment of uranium and plutonium for military programs; and permanently dismantling its nuclear weapons infrastructure, including test sites, all nuclear weapons research and development facilities, particularly with respect to advanced centrifuges, and nuclear weapons enrichment and reprocessing facilities.  North Korea must also put forward a full, complete and verifiable declaration of all its nuclear activities. Robust restrictions should also be in place to assure that nuclear material, technology, and expertise are not exported, and that North Korea will be unable to attempt to reverse course.

Third, North Korea must continue its current ballistic missile tests suspension, including any space launch. Ultimately, since North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is so advanced, any agreement must include the dismantlement of ballistic missiles and a prohibition on all ballistic missile development. In addition, sufficient safeguards must be in place to assure that no ballistic missiles and associated technology are proliferated or exported.   

Fourth, North Korea must commit to robust compliance inspections including a verification regime for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.  Inspectors must have complete access to all nuclear-related sites and facilities with real time verification of North Korean compliance.  A separate compliance regime for its chemical and biological weapons programs that prevents, detects and punishes cheating on the part of North Korea is also necessary.  These compliance regimes must include “anywhere, anytime” inspections, including of all non-declared suspicious sites, and snap-back sanctions if North Korea is not in full compliance.

Finally, to be truly complete, verifiable and irreversible, any agreement with North Korea must be permanent in nature.

To be successful in such an ambitious undertaking, our regional allies – in particular the Republic of Korea and Japan – are indispensable to our success.  No concessions should be granted that could undermine our core alliance commitments or our posture in the region. 

We likewise believe, given the complexity of this effort, that the Administration should engage Congress throughout any diplomatic process. To ensure that Congress remains fully informed as negotiations proceed, we would therefore like to work with you and your administration to establish a process for regular and substantive briefings, including classified briefings, on U.S. policy and strategy both prior to your meeting with Kim Jong Un as well as regular briefings thereafter, including full engagement with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the National Security Working Group.  Should your administration develop any agreements requiring Senate consideration we of course look forward to working with you to assure appropriate review and disposition in Congress.

Meeting the challenge of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, building peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and addressing other critical matters, including North Korea’s human rights practices, are issues of longstanding concern to the American people as well as our allies and partners. We believe that Congress therefore has an important role to play in working with the administration to support your efforts and to shape U.S. policy toward North Korea.  However, we also believe that Congress must act as a check on any agreement that does not live up to these principles by imposing tougher sanctions and oversight. Democrats will look to the standards outlined in this letter as we examine whether North Korea should be granted sanctions relief.

We look forward to your thoughts both on the substance of policy and the principles we have outlined, as well as on how to best proceed with establishing a regular and substantive process for congressional engagement and consultation with your administration on these issues.  We look forward to working alongside you in the weeks and months ahead in pursuit of an agreement that effectively addresses the threat of a nuclear-armed North Korea in a manner that enhances the security of the United States, our allies, and the world.

Sincerely,

Robert Menendez

United States Senator

Charles E. Schumer

United States Senator

Richard J. Durbin

United States Senator

Mark R. Warner

United States Senator

Dianne Feinstein

United States Senator

Patrick Leahy

United States Senator

Sherrod Brown

United States Senator                        

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and cofounder of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, released the following statement after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Commerce issued a joint report on how the federal government can combat botnets and other threats to the internet ecosystem:

“This report concludes that current market incentives do too little to promote security in internet-connected products, corroborating a longstanding concern I have had with the burgeoning market of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The failure of these market forces to reward security over cost or convenience has led to devastating DDoS attacks (like the Mirai botnet) that contribute to internet-wide insecurity to this day.

“I am pleased to see the Departments of Commerce and Homeland Security acknowledge that the federal government should lead by example by requiring the acquisition of far more secure and resilient services and products; Congress should take the next step and pass bipartisan legislation I have introduced with Sen. Gardner that would set minimum security requirements for federal procurements of IoT devices.” 

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a former Governor and a current member of the Senate Finance Committee, released the following statement after the Virginia Senate voted to expand the Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) 

“I’m thrilled that the Virginia Senate has decided partisan politics should no longer stand in the way of thousands of Virginia families getting the healthcare they need. I look forward to the House of Delegates soon doing the same.  

“Governor Northam and supporters of Medicaid expansion should be proud of this bipartisan achievement, but the real winners here are the hardworking Virginians who will finally have healthcare for their families.” 

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