Senator Warner is in Boston today to speak with business leaders and students at Harvard’s Kennedy School about his ongoing efforts to find consensus on a big, bipartisan debt reduction plan. The Senator will be appearing at several meetings and events in Boston today along with Dave Cote, the CEO of Honeywell and a member of the Simpson-Bowles Deficit Reduction Commission, and former Republican U.S. Congressman Vin Weber of Minnesota.

“I didn’t get the memo that said, ‘When you become a senator, you take presidential election years off,’” Senator Warner told the Norfolk, VA Virginian-Pilot.

The “Moment of Truth” national tour, organized by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, is planning similar upcoming events in New York and possibly Chicago.

The national debt stands at $15.3 trillion and it is growing by more than $4 billion every day. Federal spending accounts for 24 percent of the economy while revenues represent a 15 percent share – an imbalance that means America faces significant and long-lasting deficits.

During radio interviews in New England this morning, Senator Warner said  it is vitally important to take this discussion beyond the Capital Beltway and enlist the support of business and community leaders across the nation. 

“These tough choices don’t get any easier, and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t take meaningful steps to reduce our deficits and debt now,” Senator Warner said. “The best thing we can do to strengthen the economy is to demonstrate that those of us in Washington can actually come together and reach a bipartisan consensus on a comprehensive, long-term fix to our fiscal challenges.”

Tonight’s conversation at the Kennedy School may be viewed here.