Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), joined by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), and John Fetterman (D-PA), urged the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to evaluate the adequacy of black lung benefits to meet the income and health care needs of disabled miners and their families. In a letter to Comptroller General of the United States Gene L. Dodaro, the Senators explained that the study is critical to informing policy aimed at helping coal miners and their families in the Appalachian region.

“Many recipients of black lung benefits are living month-to-month on limited and fixed incomes,” the Senators wrote. “Though this has historically been true, many miners sick with black lung disease who are applying for benefits today are contracting the disease at a much earlier age. These benefits, therefore, are not just supplementing an early retirement—they are replacing an income for many years that may need to support children and a household, aging or sick parents, and college and retirement.”

Decades ago, Congress established the Black Lung Benefits Act in conjunction with the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 to provide monthly compensation and medical coverage for coal miners who develop black lung disease and are totally disabled as a result. However, many miners and their families have been subjected to drawn out legal challenges after being awarded black lung benefits. Frequently, these benefits are appealed by employers and, if the benefit determination is overturned, recipients must pay back the money. In some cases, these challenges have taken years to resolve, causing undue stress to families that rely on these benefits to survive.

The Senators continued, “We have also heard from miners’ attorneys that almost all of the miners and families that they represent raise the fear of repayment with them and it frequently deters these families from using any of their interim benefits that they desperately need, regardless of how strong their respective cases are because they cannot afford to take the risk of being forced to repay a large sum of money. Since these cases can last for so long, many miners die from black lung disease before they are able to confidently spend their benefits without fear of a future repayment.”’

To help ensure that adequate benefits are provided, the senators are requesting a study that answers the following questions:

What are the state and Federal disability benefits that coal miners and their families can receive as a result of black lung?
What challenges have miners and their families faced in obtaining black lung disability benefits, including but not limited to recoupment?
How do these benefits affect the health and financial well-being of miners and their families, and what, if any, changes are needed?

Last year, Sens. Warner, Kaine, Casey, Brown, and Manchin introduced The Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act, legislation to make needed updates to the Black Lung Benefits Act to ensure Congress is fulfilling its commitment to the nation’s coal miners. To help fulfill those promises, in August of 2022, Congress approved a permanent extension of the black lung excise tax to fund the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund (BLDTF) that provides health insurance and a living stipend for those impacted by black lung as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

"The UMWA has been at the forefront of battling black lung disease for more than fifty years. Enacted by Congress in 1969 as part of the Federal Mine Health and Safety Act, the black lung benefits system has been helpful to thousands of miners and their families. But more needs to be done. The cost of living has dramatically increased since 1969, miners are contracting the disease at younger ages and there are more severe forms of the disease. This GAO study will bring important answers on how to improve the benefit system so that all miners and their families receive the benefits they deserve,” said Cecil E. Roberts, International President of the United Mine workers of America.

"The black lung benefits system was created over fifty years ago and since its creation has served as a lifeline for so many mining families," said Rebecca Shelton, Director of Policy for Appalachian Citizens' Law Center. "But a lot can change in fifty years. We know that the cost of living has increased, that more miners have severe forms of the disease, and that miners are getting sick at younger ages. This GAO study asks critical questions to determine whether the benefits system is still adequately serving families in spite of these and many other changes and will ensure that the benefits system continues to serve mining families as it was meant to."

“Miners disabled by black lung deserve more than what they are currently receiving — $738 per month even for those with total disability,” said Appalachian Voices Legislative Director Chelsea Barnes. “We believe this GAO study will show that black lung disability benefits should be significantly increased to meet the needs of miners who are no longer able to work and provide for their families as a result of this debilitating disease.”

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

Dear Comptroller General Dodaro,

Thank you for your continued partnership with Congress and the Federal government to help ensure government works effectively and efficiently for our constituents. We write to request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a study to evaluate the adequacy of black lung benefits to meet the living and health care needs of disabled miners and their families. We believe such a report is critical to informing policy aimed at helping coal miners and their families in the Appalachian region.

Coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, commonly known as black lung disease, is a fatal, incurable condition caused by long-term exposure to coal dust in and around coal mines. The U.S. Department of Labor has estimated that black lung has killed more than 76,000 people since 1968. However, the number of miners with black lung is likely much higher, given the difficulty in and hesitancy about getting diagnosed within mining communities.

In 1972, Congress passed the Black Lung Benefits Act (BLBA) to provide monthly benefits to disabled miners and eligible surviving family members of coal miners whose deaths were due to black lung disease. Benefits are either paid for by the coal mining company or the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund but the claims process is arduous and often takes many years, even decades. Miners and their families or survivors apply for and rely on these benefits for health care and as a source of income once they are disabled.

Currently, federal black lung benefit rates are set at 37.5% of the base salary federal employees in grade GS-2, step 1. These employees are on the second lowest pay grade for federal employees. Therefore, a miner without any dependents or a survivor of a miner, for instance, receives approximately $4.24 per hour, $738 a month, or about $8,856 annually, even if they prove total disability or death due to pneumoconiosis. Considering that the federal minimum wage is set at $7.25 per hour, disabled miners receive nearly half this amount in Black Lung disability benefits.

Anecdotally, we have learned that black lung benefits are a primary or sole source of income for many families. Many recipients of black lung benefits are living month-to-month on limited and fixed incomes. Though this has historically been true, many miners sick with black lung disease who are applying for benefits today are contracting the disease at a much earlier age. These benefits, therefore, are not just supplementing an early retirement—they are replacing an income for many years that may need to support children and a household, aging or sick parents, and college and retirement. We have also heard from miners’ attorneys that almost all of the miners and families that they represent raise the fear of repayment with them and it frequently deters these families from using any of their interim benefits that they desperately need, regardless of how strong their respective cases are because they cannot afford to take the risk of being forced to repay a large sum of money. Since these cases can last for so long, many miners die from black lung disease before they are able to confidently spend their benefits without fear of a future repayment.

The purpose of the Black Lung Benefits Act is to provide benefits, in cooperation with the States, to coal miners who are totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis and to the surviving dependents of miners whose death was due to such disease. To help ensure that adequate benefits are provided to coal miners and their dependents in the event of their death or total disability due to pneumoconiosis, we request a study that describes:

1.       What are the state and Federal disability benefits that coal miners and their families can receive as a result of black lung?
2.       What challenges have miners and their families faced in obtaining black lung disability benefits, including but not limited to recoupment?
3.       How do these benefits affect the health and financial well-being of miners and their families, and what, if any, changes are needed?

Ensuring that benefits are sufficient to meet the economic and health care needs of mining families has always been critical, and we appreciate your consideration of this request.

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WASHINGTON – Today, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) appeared on FOX News Sunday to discuss the how the U.S. needs to tackle rising threats posed by the Communist Party of China.

On the how the United States needs to address the rise of the Chinese Communist Party on the world stage:

“We have never had a potential adversary like China. The Soviet Union, Russia, was military or ideological, China is investing in economic areas. They have $500 billion in intellectual property theft, and we are in a competition not just on a national security basis but on a technology basis. That's why national security now includes telecommunications, satellites, artificial intelligence, quantum computing. Each of these domains, we have got to make the kind of investments to stay ahead. I think we are starting that in a bipartisan way. We did the CHIPS bill to try to bring semiconductor manufacturing back, we have kicked out Huawei out of our telecom systems. This week, I have a broad bipartisan bill that I am launching with my friend John Thune, the Republican lead, where we are going to say, in terms of foreign technology coming into America, we’ve got to have a systemic approach to make sure we can ban or prohibit it when necessary.”

On the influence of TikTok:

“Listen, you have 100 million Americans on TikTok, 90 minutes a day…They are taking data from Americans, not keeping it safe, but what worries me more with TikTok is that this could be a propaganda tool. The kind of videos you see would promote ideological issues. If you look at what TikTok shows to the Chinese kids, which is all about science and engineering, versus what our kids see, there’s a radical difference.”

On China’s support for Putin’s war in Ukraine:

“…if China moves forward to support Russia in Ukraine, I can't understand some of my colleagues who are willing to say, ‘I don't really care about Ukraine, but I'm concerned about China.’ Well, China and Russia, these authoritarian regimes, are linked, and we have to make sure Putin is not successful in Ukraine and that Xi doesn't further his expansion plans around Taiwan.”

Video of Sen. Warner on FOX News Sunday can be found here. A transcript follows.

FOX News Sunday

SHANNON BREAM: Joining is now, Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, welcome back. This week, you all have a hearing on worldwide threat assessments. You will have the DNI, the director of the CIA there. You have long been warning about China on multiple fronts. Do you think that we have lost valuable time in assessing the threat accurately? Will you talk about that this week?

SENATOR MARK WARNER: Well I think for a long time conventional wisdom was, the more you bring China into the world order, the more they’re going to change. That assumption was just plain wrong. China even changed their laws in 2016 to make it explicitly clear that every company in China, their first obligation is to the Communist Party. So we have never had a potential adversary like China. The Soviet Union, Russia, was military or ideological, China is investing in economic areas. They have $500 billion in intellectual property theft, and we are in a competition not just on a national security basis but on a technology basis. That's why national security now includes telecommunications, satellites, artificial intelligence, quantum computing. Each of these domains, we have got to make the kind of investments to stay ahead. I think we are starting that in a bipartisan way. We did the CHIPS bill to try to bring semiconductor manufacturing back, we have kicked out Huawei out of our telecom systems. This week, I have a broad bipartisan bill that I am launching with my friend John Thune, the Republican lead where we are going to say, in terms of foreign technology coming into America, we’ve got to have a systemic approach to make sure we can ban or prohibit it when necessary.

BREAM: Does that mean TikTok?

SEN. WARNER: That means TikTok is one of the potentials. Listen, you have 100 million Americans on TikTok, 90 minutes a day. Even you guys would like that kind of return, 90 minutes a day. They are taking data from Americans, not keeping it safe, but what worries me more with TikTok is that this could be a propaganda tool. The kind of videos you see would promote ideological issues. If you look at what TikTok shows to the Chinese kids, which is all about science and engineering, versus what our kids see, there’s a radical difference.

BREAM: We will watch that, because that's a bipartisan offering potentially this week. This past week we got information, it was revealed that both the Department of Energy and FBI believe that the origins of COVID were most likely a leak from the Wuhan Institute for Virology. This is something that early on this was called a conspiracy theory, you were racist if you talked about it. The Senate has actually unanimously passed a measure that would call on this administration to declassify information that we have about the origins. The White House won't say whether the president will veto it or not if it gets to his desk. Do Americans, worldwide, do people not have a right to see that information?

SEN. WARNER: Shannon, here is again an example of what we are dealing with, with the Communist Party in China. If this virus had originated virtually anywhere else, we would have had world scientists there. The Chinese Communist Party has been totally opaque about letting in outside scientists to figure this out. Now, you’ve still got of some parts of the intelligence community that think it originated in a wet market, others saying that it could have gotten out from a lab, although I would say that one entity says it came from one lab in Wuhan, another said from another. At the end of the day, we’ve got to keep looking and we've got to make sure, in terms of future pandemics, that we can have access to the source of where these diseases originate a lot earlier on in the system. We’re three and half later, we still don't have access to Wuhan.

BREAM: They're not going to cooperate with that, especially if they assess internally they were at fault. How do they pay for this? Now, billions probably trillions in damages and losses for people, millions and millions of lives. How do they pay?

SEN. WARNER: Well I think again, this is where we’ve got to have that united front of countries all around the world, that there has to be consequences. There has to be consequences potentially in terms of sanctions, it’s one of the reasons why, if China moves forward to support Russia in Ukraine, I can't understand some of my colleagues who are willing to say, “I don't really care about Ukraine, but I'm concerned about China.” Well, China and Russia, these authoritarian regimes, are linked, and we have to make sure Putin is not successful in Ukraine and that Xi doesn't further his expansion plans around Taiwan.

BREAM: Well, we know that even if they are not sending bullets over to Russia, they are buying up copious amounts of Russian oil. They are sending dual-use products that could actually be used on the battlefield. Xi doesn't seem very worried about the warnings from the U.S. at this point. They haven't even acknowledged or apologized for the balloon that went across America, we think capturing information as it went. It Xi afraid of this administration? To our warnings mean anything?

SEN. WARNER: Well I think Xi, as Putin thought, thought that with the invasion of the Ukraine, that the West would basically throw in the towel. The fact that we’ve not, the fact that you've got, for example, the German chancellor here just this past week, Germany’s dramatically increasing their defense budget. The fact that we've got nations like Finland and Sweden trying to join NATO. I think Putin made a major miscalculation and I do think Xi is watching the West stand up against Putin and is taking some lessons from that.

BREAM: You're just back from India, among many other countries you visited. They abstained from the U.N. vote that condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and called for an end to this. How important is it, a critical place like India, that they choose a side, and with the West?

SEN. WARNER: I think it’s time. Look, India is a great nation, as a matter of fact, I’m chair of the India Caucus, I'm a big supporter of India. India is now a major, major power. Fifth-largest economy in the world, and a place where remarkable things are happening. My message to the Indians has been, we understand that you have historic ties to Russia, and you still get a lot of your arms, but you cannot be a world leader, and attempt to be a moral world leader, without picking a side. And in this case, I think the younger Indians get that. Some of the older generation, I think we still have work to do.

BREAM: Okay, let's turn to continued funding for Ukraine. Another $400 million was announced on Friday. There are questions, there'll be more requests from Congress no doubt in the coming weeks about that. While there is strong support, here across the U.S. and across the West, the polls show that it's pulling back a little bit. Here's the reality from one analyst, “funding for the Ukrainian government has not demanded any tough bureaucratic trade-offs between funding priorities. It's not requiring bouncing needs for Ukraine against a domestic spending.” We’ve hit our ceiling, we have some kind of negotiation that’s got to happen very shortly. There are competing needs and they are very real, so where do we assess our financial commitment?

SEN. WARNER: Well Shannon, let's look at this. We have allocated $113 billion to Ukraine. We have actually only given them actually less than half of that, and on the military side, about $30 billion of roughly $60 billion. We’ve still got some runway to go there. But I think we need to keep that commitment, and the truth is the Russian army is being chewed up by the Ukrainians. We spent $800 billion a year on defense, in most of my lifetime to prevent Russia from exploiting that. We are having Ukrainians do that right now, in a sense, for us. I think we need to continue that. I think we will see the vast majority of members of Congress in both parties, there are some loudmouths on both sides that are pulling back, but if we are going to keep in this competition against Russia and China, Putin cannot be successful. At the same time, we have to realize as we look at China that national security is no longer simply tanks and trucks and guns and ships. It's also telecom and AI and quantum computing and advanced synthetic biology. We have to make investments in those domains, as well, which is both an economic investment and I believe, national security investment.

BREAM: Speaking of another national security interest, Iran, this report on their nuclear capabilities came out this week and it’s kind of getting lost in all the other foreign policy headlines, but basically what the International Atomic Energy Agency told us is that they have hit 84% as far as enriching uranium. They said that’s just short of the 90% that you would need for a weapon. Britain, France, and Germany say they want to censure Iran over this. The U.S. is kind of hesitant. The reporting is that the Biden administration doesn’t want to go there. Are we now then softer on Iran's new program then Europe?

SEN. WARNER: I do not believe that. We have made it explicitly clear – and I was just in Israel recently with a group of senators – that we agree with Israel. Iran cannot be a nuclear power. I think, that has been our policy it will continue to be our policy. There are two steps in this process, one is the enrichment issue, and I believe we will be tougher than the Europeans. We always historically always have been –

BREAM: So then why are we against censuring, reportedly?

SEN. WARNER: We have already sanctioned and censured more Iranian companies by far than our European friends. But there is also a question around delivery systems. Again, I think we and our Israeli friends are following this very closely. Again, we will not allow Iran to become a nuclear power.

BREAM: I've got to hit this, Havana Syndrome. The reporting out this week, an assessment from several intelligence agencies that they don't think – that it's unlikely there was a foreign adversary carrying out these attacks, whatever they were, where our people, diplomats or Intel officers around the world in U.S. missions have suffered really debilitating symptoms from this. Senator Rubio, your colleague tweeted this: “The CIA took the investigation of Havana syndrome seriously. But when you read about the devastating injuries it's hard to except that it was by AC units and loud cicadas. Something happened here and just because we don’t have all the answers doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.” Will you continue trying to pursue answers?

SEN. WARNER: Absolutely. First of all, the most important thing is anyone who got sick, whatever the source was, whether they are CIA, DoD, State Department officials, we owe them the world's best health care and I think we are providing that now. Initially frankly, under the last administration, this whole issue was attempted to be swept under the rug. We are now making sure that health care is provided. I know how, particularly the CIA, how extensive the investigation has been. And I've made very clear to them, if they need to continue that investigation, if new facts come to light, they ought to pursue that. But at this moment in time, I know how thorough they have been, and they have not found the evidence that I think perhaps they thought they would have found. We've got to follow the facts. At the end of the day that's what we owe the members of this intel community, who protect our nation, and that means giving them the health care. If it ends up sensing some other source then what has been discovered so far, we have to pursue it.

BREAM: Senator, Chairman, thanks for coming back to Fox News Sunday.

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) issued the following statement after President Biden awarded a medal of honor to retired U.S. Army Col. Paris Davis, a Virginian and a Black Vietnam War veteran and Special Forces officer, who was first nominated to receive the medal in 1965:

“We are extremely heartened to see President Biden finally award Colonel Paris Davis with the Medal of Honor for his heroism in Vietnam. Nearly six decades later, this long-overdue recognition serves as a reminder of the lives saved and families made whole thanks to Colonel Davis’ bravery. Davis’ leadership and his willingness to place himself in harm’s way to save others represent the highest values espoused by our military and serve as a model for our servicemembers.”

In 1965, during a battle against North Vietnamese forces, a wounded Colonel Davis led his patrol through two days of fighting against better-positioned enemy forces. Then-Captain Davis engaged in hand-to-hand combat and exposed himself to intense enemy fire in order to save two wounded non-commissioned officers and ultimately extract all members of his Company.

Following his heroic actions, Colonel Davis was twice nominated for the Medal of Honor – once in 1965 and later in 1969. Unfortunately, a final determination on his nomination packages appeared to never have been made because the packages went missing.

In 2016, Sens. Warner and Kaine wrote the Secretary of the U.S. Army, urging him to review the Medal of Honor nomination package for Colonel Davis. After ongoing advocacy by the Senators, the Secretary of Defense wrote to Sens. Warner and Kaine in December of last year notifying them that the Colonel’s actions merit the Medal of Honor.

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) reintroduced legislation to protect federal workers and their families from foreclosures, evictions, and loan defaults during a government shutdown or debt default. The Federal Employee Civil Relief Act would enable government employees and contractors to postpone payment obligations during a shutdown or debt default and for 30 days afterward.

“During the government shutdown under President Trump, we spent lots of time with government employees who often broke down crying because they didn’t know how they were going to put food on the table or keep a roof over their family’s heads,” said the Senators. “Some people in Congress treat government shutdowns or the threat of a debt default like political games, but to federal workers and their families, the consequences can be grim and all too real. This legislation will help shield federal employees and their families from those in Congress who think it’s good politics to stop paying our bills by shutting down the government or defaulting on our debt.”

During the December 2018 government shutdown, many federal workers received a pay stub with zero dollars on it. This bill addresses the real threat of federal workers and contractors losing their homes, falling behind on student loans and other bills, having their car repossessed, or losing their health insurance because they have been furloughed during a shutdown or required to work without pay. The Federal Employee Civil Relief Act would protect impacted workers from:

Being evicted or foreclosed;
Having their car or other property repossessed;
Falling behind in their student loan payments;
Having negative effects on their credit history;
Falling behind in paying their bills; or
Losing their insurance because of missed premiums.

This protection would last during a shutdown and debt default and 30 days afterwards to give workers a chance to keep up with their bills and would enable these workers to apply to a court to temporarily postpone payment obligations or eviction or foreclosure actions.

During the longest government shutdown in U.S. history in 2019, Sens. Warner and Kaine took a series of actions to protect affected workers, including guaranteeing back pay for federal employees, urging back pay for contractors, introducing budget amendments to protect federal workers, and urging OPM to prevent the termination of dental and vision insurance for federal employees. During the shutdown, Sen. Kaine objected to the Senate going out of session, which resulted in him securing passage of legislation to guarantee back pay for federal employees. He has also introduced legislation that would end Congress’ abuse of the debt ceiling and prevent a debt default by allowing the President to raise the debt ceiling subject to a congressional override.

In addition to Sens. Warner and Kaine, the Federal Employee Civil Relief Act is sponsored by U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

This legislation is supported by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), Federal Managers Association (FMA), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), and National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).

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WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) applauded $10,035,800 in federal funding to support 10 Virginia-based Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in their mission to expand lending and investment opportunities in disadvantaged neighborhoods and communities. The funding was awarded through the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program). The CDFI Program invests in and builds the capacity of CDFIs to serve low-income people and underserved communities lacking adequate access to affordable financial products and services.

“CDFIs are critically important financial institutions that help underserved communities across the Commonwealth and the country access capital,” the Senators said. “Early on in the pandemic, we fought for increased CDFI funding because we saw that initial relief efforts weren’t reaching underserved communities. We’re glad to see that funding flowing to communities across Virginia to help bridge that gap.”

The funding is distributed as follows:

$6,140,000 to Capital Impact Partners in Arlington, VA.
$797,900 to Freedom First Federal Credit Union in Roanoke, VA.
$660,000 to the ECDC Enterprise Development Group in Arlington, VA.
$560,000 to Arlington Community Federal Credit Union in Falls Church, VA.
$510,000 to the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, Inc. in Roanoke, VA.
$510,000 to Appalachian Community Capital Corporation in Christiansburg, VA.
$482,900 to RVA Financial Federal Credit Union in Richmond, VA.
$125,000 to Foodshed Capital in Charlottesville, VA.
$125,000 to Mobility Credit Acceptance, LLC in Richmond, VA.
$125,000 to Peoples Advantage Federal Credit Union in Petersburg, VA.

Sens. Warner and Kaine have long worked to ensure that underserved communities have better access to financial services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sens. Warner and Kaine secured funding for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) in pandemic relief packages modeled after Sen. Warner’s Jobs and Neighborhood Investment Act. Last year, Sen. Warner launched the bipartisan Senate Community Development Finance Caucus to serve as a platform where policymakers can coordinate and expand on public and private-sector efforts in support of the missions of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs).

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, released the following statement on the President’s National Cyber Strategy:

“I’m pleased to see the Biden Administration advocating for the kind of best practices that I’ve long called for, such as building and reinforcing strong partnerships with the private sector, investing in the long-term protection of our nation’s critical infrastructure, being proactive about establishing strong cybersecurity foundations and meeting critical standards. I’m particularly pleased to see the Administration prioritize the coordination of cyber incident reporting requirements, as required by the cyber reporting law I was proud to author. I’m also glad to see the Administration’s renewed focus on protecting the sensitive medical data and safety of Americans as cyber attacks on our health care systems become more frequent and aggressive.”

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine cosponsored the Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act, legislation led by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), to strengthen campaign finance laws, improve transparency around political spending in federal elections, and make government more accountable to the will of voters. Outside group spending in federal elections has skyrocketed since the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC. Many of the biggest spenders, such as certain corporations, special interests, and political groups, are not required under current law to disclose their donors, making it difficult to understand how dark money is influencing elections. The DISCLOSE Act would require organizations and lobbyists spending money in elections to disclose their large donors and certify that they’re not using foreign money for election spending.

“The American public should be able to see who is spending money in federal elections,” said Warner and Kaine. “This bill is an overdue step to improve transparency and accountability, help ensure foreign governments aren’t interfering in U.S. elections, and strengthen our democracy.”

The DISCLOSE Act contains important safeguards against special interest influence. Specifically, the bill would:

Prohibit domestic companies with significant foreign control, ownership, or direction from spending money in U.S. elections. Under current law, foreign nationals and foreign corporations are prohibited from engaging in any election spending, but domestic companies with significant foreign ownership are not subject to the same restrictions.
Strengthen measures to prevent foreign governments and their agents from interfering in U.S. elections, including in state and local ballot measures.
Crack down on the use of shell corporations to hide the identity of donors by requiring companies spending money in elections to disclose their true owners.
Require organizations running political ads to include “stand by your ad” disclaimers indicating the top funders that are paying for them.
Require groups that spend money on ads supporting or opposing judicial nominees to disclose their donors. The legislation would identify donors who fund advocacy campaigns aimed at confirming their favored nominees.

Warner and Kaine have cosponsored this legislation in previous Congresses and have long supported efforts to strengthen our democracy, fight political corruption, and protect the right to vote. Earlier this week, Warner reintroduced the Honest Ads Act, legislation that would improve the transparency and accountability of online political advertising. The senators are also strong supporters of the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, legislation negotiated by Kaine to improve access to the ballot for Americans. They have cosponsored the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore safeguards against potential restrictive changes to voting rules.

Full text of the bill is available here.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today released the following statement on a new proposed rule by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) governing the use of telemedicine to prescribe controlled substances:

“Given the dramatic shortage of mental health providers nationwide, expanded access to prescribers through telehealth is key to making sure that patients can continue getting their medications, including those that treat opioid use disorder, as they have for the past three years. More than half of U.S. counties don’t have a single psychiatrist. While folks once had to take time off work, commute to a medical facility, and sit in a waiting room, they now can get in front of a prescriber quickly, from nearly any location, and through a single click thanks to pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities.

“Unfortunately, despite what Congress has been directing it to do since 2008, the rule proposed by the DEA once again neglects to set up a special registration allowing specially certified and trained prescribers to continue to safely prescribe controlled substances virtually without requiring an in-person visit. I worry that this rule, as written, overlooks the key benefits and lessons learned during the pandemic, and could counterproductively exacerbate the opioid crisis and encourage more risky behavior by pushing patients to seek dangerous alternatives to proper health care, such as self-medicating, if they cannot access an in-person appointment with a specialized provider.”

During COVID-19, patients widely adopted telepsychiatry as a convenient and accessible way to get psychiatric 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 whose 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 these medications 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 an original cosponsor 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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WASHINGTON – Today, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-VA) issued the following statement on the release of a declassified Intelligence Community Assessment on Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs), or “Havana syndrome”:

“The Senate Intelligence Committee received this morning the Intelligence Community’s Assessment on Anomalous Health Incidents and is currently reviewing it to understand the Community’s analytic perspective.

“Make no mistake: the priority of this Committee remains the safety, security, and well-being of the intelligence workforce and their families. We will continue to hold the Intelligence Community accountable for ensuring that those officers who have reported being affected by AHIs are being treated with the respect, dignity, and care they deserve, as required by Congress under the HAVANA Act.”

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WASHINGTON– Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced $98,345,447 in federal funding for affordable housing, community development, and homelessness assistance throughout the Commonwealth. The funding is awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program.

“All Virginians should have a safe place to live,” said the Senators. “We’re glad this funding will support community development projects, improve affordable housing options, and help more Virginians find a home.”

Warner and Kaine, a former fair housing attorney, have long supported efforts to increase access to affordable housing. Earlier this month, the senators announced over $54 million in federal funding to improve affordable housing throughout Virginia. They’ve introduced legislation that would address rising home prices, assist first-generation homebuyers, and close widening wealth and homeownership gaps.

A breakdown of the funding by program is below.

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG): The CDBG program provides flexible funding to states, cities, and counties to support community development, including infrastructure, economic development projects, housing construction or rehabilitation, public facilities upgrades, homeowner assistance, and more.

City/County	Amount of Funding
Commonwealth of Virginia	$18,806,749
Prince William County	$2,597,203
Loudoun County	$1,405,312
Henrico County	$1,652,427
Fairfax County	$5,682,469
Chesterfield County	$1,562,771
Arlington County	$1,340,757
Winchester	$250,138
Waynesboro	$172,162
Virginia Beach	$2,014,460
Suffolk	$496,361
Staunton	$319,410
Roanoke	$1,785,245
Richmond	$4,341,903
Radford	$204,683
Portsmouth	$1,544,932
Petersburg	$585,507
Norfolk	$4,427,961
Newport News	$1,278,265
Lynchburg	$708,843
Hopewell	$236,121
Harrisonburg	$506,946
Hampton	$914,517
Fredericksburg	$201,420
Danville	$853,442
Colonial Heights	$96,493
Christiansburg	$130,404
Chesapeake	$1,085,306
Charlottesville	$410,468
Bristol	$259,836
Blacksburg	$554,576
Alexandria	$1,094,483
TOTAL	$57,521,570

HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME): The HOME Program provides grants to states and localities that communities use - often in partnership with nonprofits - to build, buy, or rehabilitate affordable housing and provides direct rental assistance to low-income individuals.

City/County	Amount of Funding
Commonwealth of Virginia	$11,249,059
Prince William County	$987,738
Loudoun County	$515,805
Henrico County	$1,024,604
Fairfax County	$2,385,371
Chesterfield County	$648,731
Arlington County	$861,407
Winchester	$688,202
Virginia Beach	$1,174,149
Suffolk	$426,831
Roanoke	$695,073
Richmond	$1,585,901
Portsmouth	$510,989
Norfolk	$1,413,815
Newport News	$858,556
Lynchburg	$378,083
Hampton	$575,846
Danville	$335,524
Chesapeake	$602,087
Charlottesville	$785,286
Blacksburg	$634,440
Alexandria	$712,411
TOTAL	$29,049,908

Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG): The ESG program provides funding for emergency shelter for people in crisis, outreach and essential services to those living on the streets, re-housing services, and homeless prevention programs.

City/County	Amount of Funding
Commonwealth of Virginia	$3,205,897
Prince William County	$231,683
Fairfax County	$520,211
Virginia Beach	$172,983
Roanoke	$159,824
Richmond	$393,268
Norfolk	$389,791
TOTAL	$5,073,657

Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA): The HOPWA program provides housing assistance and support services to low-income individuals living with HIV/AIDS and their families.

City/County	Amount of Funding
Commonwealth of Virginia	$1,631,954
Virginia Beach	$3,058,259
Richmond	$2,010,099
TOTAL	$6,700,312

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), along with U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor (D-FL-14) and Mike Levin (D-CA-49), reintroduced the Safeguarding Against Fraud, Exploitation, Threats, Extremism and Consumer Harms (SAFE TECH) Act to reform Section 230 and allow social media companies to be held accountable for enabling cyber-stalking, online harassment, and discrimination on social media platforms.

“For too long, Section 230 has given cover to social media companies as they turn a blind eye to the harmful scams, harassment, and violent extremism that run rampant across their platforms,” said Sen. Warner, a former technology entrepreneur and the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. “When Section 230 was enacted over 25 years ago, the internet we use today was not even fathomable. This legislation takes strides to update a law that was meant to encourage service providers to develop tools and policies to support effective moderation and allows them to finally be held accountable for the harmful, often criminal behavior that exists on their platforms.”

“Social media platforms allow people to connect all across the world—but they also cause great pain and suffering, being used as a tool for cyberbullying, stalking, spreading hate, and more. The way we communicate as a society has changed drastically over the last 25 years, it’s time for our laws to catch up,” said Sen. Hirono, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The SAFE TECH Act targets the worst abuses perpetrated on internet platforms to better protect our children and our communities from the very real harms of social media.”

“We need to be asking more from big tech companies, not less. How they operate has a real-life effect on the safety and civil rights of Americans and people around the world, as well as our democracy. Our legislation will hold these platforms accountable for ads and content that can lead to real-world harm,” said Sen. Klobuchar.

“Congress has acted in the past to ensure that social media companies don’t get blanket immunity after hosting information on their websites aimed at facilitating human or sex trafficking,” said Sen. Kaine. “I’m fully supportive of using that precedent as a roadmap to require social media companies to moderate dangerous content linked to other crimes—like cyber-stalking, discrimination, and harassment—in a responsible way. This is critical to keep our communities safe.”

“Section 230’s blanket immunity has prioritized Big Tech over Americans’ civil rights and safety. Platforms’ refusal to be held accountable for the dangerous and harmful content they host has real-life implications for users – leaving many vulnerable to threats like stalking, intimidation, and harassment, as well as discrimination,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “Our legislation is needed to safeguard consumers and ensure social media giants aren’t shielded from the legal consequences of failing to act. These common sense protections are essential in today’s online world.”

“For too long, big tech companies have treated the internet like the wild west while users on their platforms violate civil and human rights, defraud consumers and harass others. These companies have shown over and over again that they are unwilling to make their platforms safe for Americans. It is long past time for consumers to have legal recourse when big tech companies harm them or their families. Our bill will ensure they are held accountable,” said Rep. Castor.

“Social media companies continue to allow malicious users to go unchecked, harm other users, and violate laws. This cannot go on and it is clear federal reform is necessary,” said Rep. Levin. “Our bicameral legislation makes much needed updates to Section 230 to ensure Americans can safely use online platforms and have legal recourse when they are harmed. It’s long past time that these legislative fixes are made and I look forward to this bill moving through the Congress.”

Specifically the SAFE TECH Act would force online service providers to address misuse on their platforms or face civil liability. The legislation would make clear that Section 230:

Doesn’t apply to ads or other paid content – ensuring that platforms cannot continue to profit as their services are used to target vulnerable consumers with ads enabling frauds and scams;
Doesn’t bar injunctive relief – allowing victims to seek court orders where misuse of a provider’s services is likely to cause irreparable harm;
Doesn’t impair enforcement of civil rights laws – maintaining the vital and hard-fought protections from discrimination even when activities or services are mediated by internet platforms;
Doesn’t interfere with laws that address stalking/cyber-stalking or harassment and intimidation on the basis of protected classes – ensuring that victims of abuse and targeted harassment can hold platforms accountable when they directly enable harmful activity;
Doesn’t bar wrongful death actions – allowing the family of a decedent to bring suit against platforms where they may have directly contributed to a loss of life;
Doesn’t bar suits under the Alien Tort Claims Act – potentially allowing victims of platform-enabled human rights violations abroad to seek redress in U.S. courts against U.S.-based platforms.

Sen. Warner first introduced the SAFE TECH Act in 2021 and is one of Congress’ leading voices in demanding accountability and user protections from social media companies. Last week, Sen. Warner pressed Meta on Facebook's role in inciting violence around the world. In addition to the SAFE TECH Act, Sen. Warner has introduced and written numerous bills aimed at improving transparency, privacy, and accountability on social media. These include the Deceptive Experiences to Online Users Reduction (DETOUR) Act – legislation to prohibit large online platforms from using deceptive user interfaces, known as “dark patterns,” to trick consumers into handing over their personal data and the Augmenting Compatibility and Competition by Enabling Service Switching (ACCESS) Act, legislation that would encourage market-based competition to dominant social media platforms by requiring the largest companies to make user data portable – and their services interoperable – with other platforms, and to allow users to designate a trusted third-party service to manage their privacy and account settings.

“The onslaught of misinformation and discriminatory attacks across social media platforms continues unabated. It is essential that the tech companies that run these platforms protect their users and end the rampant civil rights violations of Black users and other users of color. Social media remains a virtually unchecked home for hateful content discrimination, especially through the manipulation of algorithms that lead to both the targeting and limiting of which users see certain types of advertisements and opportunities. Congress can take a step in the right direction by strengthening Section 230 and ensuring that online communities are not safe harbors for discrimination and civil rights violations. LDF supports Senator Warner and Senator Hirono’s bill to address these critical concerns,” said Lisa Cylar Barrett, Director of Policy, Legal Defense Fund (LDF).

“There needs to be real clarity on Section 230. The hate that festers online: antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, misogyny and disinformation – leads to real violence, real lives targeted, real people put at risk. ADL supports the ability for people affected by violence to hold perpetrators accountable – and that includes social media companies. ADL appreciates the efforts of Senators Warner, Hirono, Klobuchar, and Kaine to tackle this complex challenge. We look forward to working with them to refine this legislation to ensure a safer and less hate-filled internet for all users.” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO of ADL (Anti-Defamation League).

“Platforms should not profit from targeting employment ads toward White users, or from targeting voter suppression ads toward Black users. The SAFE TECH Act makes it clear that Section 230 does not give platforms a free pass to violate civil rights laws, while also preserving the power of platforms to remove harmful disinformation,” said Spencer Overton, President, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

“I applaud the SAFE TECH Act introduced by Sens. Warner and Hirono which provides useful modifications to section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act to limit the potential negative impacts of commercial advertising interests while continuing to protect anti-harassment and civil and human rights interests of those who may be wrongfully harmed through wrongful online activity,” Ramesh Srinivasan, Professor at the UCLA Department of Information Studies and Director of UC Digital Cultures Lab, said.

“It is glaringly apparent that we cannot rely on the tech companies to implement common sense policies that reflect common decency on their own. We thank and commend Senators Warner, Hirona, Klobuchar, and Kaine for their foresight and for showing their commitment to the safety of our citizens by putting forth the SAFE TECH Act. The SAFE TECH Act will continue to protect free speech and further protect our civil rights while sensibly amending section 230, an outdated law that the tech companies hide behind in their refusal to take responsibility for real-life consequences” said Wendy Via, Cofounder, Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

“The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative welcomes this effort to protect civil rights in the digital age and to hold online intermediaries accountable for their role in the silencing and exploitation of vulnerable communities. This bill addresses the urgent need to limit and correct the overzealous interpretation of Section 230 that has granted a multibillion dollar industry immunity and impunity for profiting from irreparable injury,” said Mary Anne Franks, President, Cyber Civil Rights Initiative and Danielle K. Citron, Vice President, Cyber Civil Rights Initiative.

“Social media companies have enabled hate, threats and even genocide against Muslims with virtual impunity. The SAFE TECH Act would bring needed and long-overdue accountability to these companies,” said Muslim Advocates Senior Policy Counsel Sumayyah Waheed. “We thank Sens. Warner, Hirono, Klobuchar, Kaine and Blumenthal for leading on this important bill. Every day, Muslims are profiled, discriminated against, attacked and worse just for engaging in public life. Passing this bill would bring us one step closer to ensuring that Muslims and other marginalized communities can hold social media companies accountable for the reckless way they violate people’s rights and threaten their safety on and offline.”

“The SAFE TECH Act is an important step forward for platform accountability and for the protection of privacy online. Providing an opportunity for victims of harassment, privacy invasions, and other violations to remove unlawful content is critical to stopping its spread and limiting harm,” said Caitriona Fitzgerald, Deputy Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).

“The SAFE TECH Act is a Section 230 reform America needs now. Troubling readings of Section 230 have encouraged reckless and negligent shirking by platforms of basic duties toward their users. Few if any of the drafters of Section 230 could have imagined that it would be opportunistically used to, for example, allow dating sites to ignore campaigns of harassment and worse against their users. The SAFE TECH Act reins in the cyberlibertarian ethos of over-expansive interpretations of Section 230, permitting courts to carefully weigh and assess evidence in cases where impunity is now preemptively assumed,” said Frank Pasquale, Author of The Black Box Society and Professor at Brooklyn Law School.

“It is unacceptable that courts have interpreted Section 230 to provide Big Tech platforms with blanket immunity from wrongdoing. Congress never intended Section 230 to shield companies from all civil and criminal liability. Reforms proposed by Sens. Warner and Hirono are an important step in the right direction. It is time to hold Big Tech accountable for the harms they cause children and families and other vulnerable populations," said James P. Steyer, Founder and CEO, Common Sense.

“The SAFE TECH Act aims to hold social media giants accountable for spreading harmful misinformation and hateful language that affects Black communities and limits our voting power," said Brandon Tucker, Sr. Director of Policy & Government Affairs at Color Of Change. “Social media companies have used Section 230 as a shield against legal repercussions for their continued civil rights violations across their platforms. When we released our Black Tech Agenda and Scorecard last year, we made sure that the SAFE TECH Act was a key criteria in marking legislators’ progress toward advancing tech policy solutions with a racial justice framework. We call on members of Congress to support this critical legislation to protect Black people’s rights and safety online.”

“It has become abundantly clear that disinformation and hate on social media can create real-world harms. - whether it's anti-vaxx misinformation, election-related lies or hate, it is now clear that there is a significant threat to human life, civil rights and national security. The problem is crazy incentives, where bad actors can freely spread hate and misinformation, platforms profit from traffic regardless of whether it is productive or damaging, but the costs are borne by the public and society at large. This timely bill forensically delineates the harms and ensures perpetrators and enablers pay a price for the harms they create. In doing so, it reflects our desire for better communication technologies, which enhance our right to speak and be heard, and that also respect our fundamental rights to life and safety,” said Imran Ahmed, CEO, Center for Countering Digital Hate.

“Senator Mark Warner is a leader in ensuring that technology supports democracy even as it advances innovation. This legislation removes obstacles to enforcement against online discrimination, cyber-stalking, and targeted harassment and incentivizes platforms to move past the current, ineffective whack-a-mole approach to harms,” said Karen Kornbluh, Former US Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Full text of legislation is available here.

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VIDEO OF WARNER & KAINE FLOOR SPEECHES ON JAMAR WALKER AVAILABLE HERE

WASHINGTON– Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine released the following statement after the Senate voted to confirm Mr. Jamar Walker to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA):

“We’re pleased the Senate voted to confirm Mr. Jamar Walker to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia after we recommended him to the President. Mr. Walker brings significant experience to the bench, and we are confident that he will serve Virginia and our country with great distinction.”

Once sworn in, Walker will be the first openly gay federal district judge in Virginia. On Monday, February 27, Warner and Kaine spoke on the Senate floor about the historic nature of Jamar Walker’s confirmation and urged their Senate colleagues to confirm him. Broadcast-quality video is available here.

In March 2022, Warner and Kaine sent a letter to President Biden recommending Mr. Jamar Walker for the vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia following Judge Raymond A. Jackson’s decision to take senior status in November 2021. Warner and Kaine recommend individuals for judicial vacancies based on their distinguished records and the advice of an independent panel of attorneys from across the Commonwealth. The President announced his nomination of Mr. Walker in July 2022.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued a statement after the Department of Commerce released the first Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for CHIPS Act incentives, welcoming the announcement:

“The projects that will be made possible by the CHIPS Act will strengthen our national security and create good-paying manufacturing jobs here in the United States. With limited funding available, I urge the Department of Commerce to be strategic in selecting projects in order to ensure that funding advances U.S. economic and national security objectives.”

Nearly everything that has an “on” switch – from cars to phones to washing machines to ATMs to electric toothbrushes – contains a semiconductor, but just 12 percent of these ‘chips’ are currently made in America. The CHIPS and Science Act includes $52 billion in funding championed by Sen. Warner to manufacture chips here on American soil – a move that will increase economic and national security and help America compete against countries like China for the technology of the future.

Sen. Warner, co-chair of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus and former technology entrepreneur, has long sounded the alarm about the importance of investing in domestic semiconductor manufacturing. Sen. Warner first introduced the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act in June 2020 along with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

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WASHINGTON – Today, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) released the following statement:

“In accordance with our responsibility to oversee the Intelligence Community and protect our national security, today we met with leaders from the IC and the Justice Department to discuss the exposure of classified documents. While today’s meeting helped shed some light on these issues, it left much to be desired and we will continue to press for full answers to our questions in accordance with our constitutional oversight obligations.”

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today announced the appointment of Lot Kwarteng to Legislative Director in his Capitol Hill office.

“I am thrilled to announce that Lot Kwarteng will serve as my next Legislative Director. Lot comes with extensive policy experience, a focus on collaboration, and an outcome-based attention to detail. I trust that his knowledge and background will serve him in successfully guiding the policy team as we work to see through the implementation of the landmark reforms enacted last Congress, and continue to seek out opportunities for bipartisan progress in the 118^th Congress,” said Sen. Warner.

Kwarteng served most recently in the office of Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) as a senior policy advisor, handling a number of legislative issues and collaborating with Democratic Policy and Communications Committee staff. Prior to his time with Sen. Stabenow, he worked in the office of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). A graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Kwarteng originally came to D.C. through the Emerging Leaders Program sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. With this hiring, Kwarteng becomes one of five Black legislative directors in the U.S. Senate.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Banking Committee and a lead author of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), released the following statement after the Supreme Court announced it will hear arguments next term in a case with far-reaching implications for the constitutionality of the CFPB, CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association of America:

“Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after the financial crisis to enforce consumer protection laws and make sure the banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions aren’t abusing their powers to take advantage of everyday Americans. If the Fifth Circuit’s decision, which could make every rule put forward by the CFPB unconstitutional, is permitted to stand, there will be financial chaos as all sorts of transactions governed by CFPB policies could grind to a halt, and consumers would be left without the protections they expect and deserve.”

Since its creation in 2010, the CFPB has recovered nearly $15 billion in financial relief for customers.

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $9,685,734 in federal funding to support the expansion of broadband at three Virginia Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Awarded through the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program, this funding will allow Norfolk State University, Virginia State University, and Virginia Union University to improve existing internet networks and provide workforce development opportunities to students and surrounding communities.

“High-speed internet is no longer a nice-to-have – it’s a need-to-have, particularly at our institutions of higher ed,” the Senators said. “This funding for Norfolk State, Virginia State, and Virginia Union represents strong steps towards closing the digital divide, developing a tech savvy workforce, and improving connectivity at three of Virginia’s HBCUs and in their surrounding communities.”

The funding is distributed as follows:

$3,898,789 for Norfolk State University to improve fiber connection on campus, create workforce development opportunities in STEM, IT, and cybersecurity careers, and provide off-site internet-focused training for students and local community members. These projects will leverage partnerships with Norfolk City Schools and local churches to expand job readiness for students of all ages and citizens of Norfolk.
$2,987,765 for Virginia Union University to improve wireless connectivity on campus, hire additional IT staff, and offer digital skills development opportunities for prioritized students, faculty, and community members.
$2,799,180 for Virginia State University to upgrade and install fiber optic cable, purchase laptops to distribute to freshmen, and implement a community coding initiative for K-12 students in the Ettrick-Petersburg region.

The Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program is a $268 million competitive grant program available to expand internet access and train information technology personnel at HBCUs, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). The funding was originally authorized by the government spending bill and COVID-19 relief package that was negotiated by Sen. Warner and supported by Sen. Kaine.

Sens. Warner and Kaine have long fought to expand access to broadband in Virginia. During negotiations for the bipartisan infrastructure law, Sen. Warner secured $65 billion in funding to help deploy broadband and decrease costs associated with connecting to the internet. As part of that funding, Virginia recently received $5 million to help make a strategic plan to deploy coverage. Sen. Warner also recently introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to ensure broadband investments are not considered taxable income.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $29,400,000 in federal funding for three Virginia airports. Funds were made available through the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Terminals Program. This funding was made possible through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which was negotiated by Sen. Warner and strongly supported by Sen. Kaine.

“Another day, another win from the bipartisan infrastructure law,” the Senators said. “The bipartisan infrastructure law provides sustained investments to make air travel smoother and safer, and we’re glad to see another year of targeted airport investments across the Commonwealth to make that a reality.”

The funding is distributed as follows:

$20,000,000 for Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) in Dulles, VA to replace existing ground loading positions with 14 loading bridges on the Tier 2 Concourse. The project connects directly to the Dulles Aerotrain and indirectly to the public Metrorail.
$5,400,000 for Norfolk International Airport (ORF) in Norfolk, VA to construct a people mover on the pedestrian bridge connecting the departures and arrivals terminal building.
$4,000,000 for Richmond International Airport (RIC) in Richmond, VA to replace 21 passenger loading bridges that are beyond their useful life.

These funds come in addition to over $50 million awarded last year to the Dulles and Richmond airports through the Airport Terminals Program. Additionally, the Senators have announced nearly $400 million in funding for various Virginia airports secured through the bipartisan infrastructure law. Last year, Sens. Warner and Kaine negotiated the opening of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Silver Line Extension, which provides Metro service directly to Dulles International Airport.

High-quality photos of Sens. Warner and Kaine’s recent visit to Dulles International Airport are available here. High-quality photos of Sen. Warner’s visit to Richmond International Airport are available here.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reintroduced bipartisan legislation to improve the transparency and accountability of online political advertising. The Honest Ads Act would require online political advertisements to adhere to the same disclaimer requirements as TV, radio, and print ads, so Americans can know who is purchasing advertisements to influence our elections. The legislation would also bolster election security by closing loopholes that allow foreign individuals or entities to fund political advertisements on digital platforms.

"In 2016 and again in 2020, we saw our adversaries launching disinformation campaigns exploiting social media in an attempt to influence our elections and advance their own interests. In order to safeguard our elections, the United States needs to defend against these coordinated efforts to undermine our democracy,” said Sen. Warner. “I appreciate the steps that key platforms have taken to implement some of the transparency requirements of the Honest Ads Act, but given that we’ve recently seen high-profile reversals on other policies designed to crack down on misinformation and incitement, it’s clear that we should not rely on voluntary action. The Honest Ads Act would require large digital platforms to meet the same disclosure standards as broadcast, cable, and satellite ads, preventing foreign actors from manipulating the American public through the use of inauthentic and divisive paid ads online.”

“For our democracy to work, we need strong rules in place so the American people know who is behind the political advertising they see online,” said Sen. Klobuchar. “By ensuring online political advertisements meet the same disclaimer requirements as television, radio, and print advertisements, this legislation would bring much-needed transparency to our campaign finance system and help prevent foreign interference in our elections. At a time when our democracy continues to face threats, it is vitally important that we know who is attempting to influence our elections.”

“Hardening our electoral infrastructure will require a comprehensive approach and it can’t be done with a single piece of legislation,” said Sen. Graham. “I am cosponsoring this legislation because it’s clear we have to start somewhere. I am pleased to work with Senators Klobuchar and Warner to address the gaps that currently exist, particularly with regards to social media. Online platforms have made some progress but there is more to be done. Foreign interference in U.S. elections poses a direct threat to our democracy. I intend to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bolster our defenses and defend the integrity of our electoral system.”

The Honest Ads Act would:

Amend the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act’s definition of public communication and electioneering communication to include paid internet and digital advertisements;
Extend the current requirements for public access to broadcasting, cable, and satellite records of political ad sales to digital platforms and third party advertising vendors with targeted exemptions for news organizations;
Require online platforms to make all reasonable efforts to ensure that foreign individuals and entities are not purchasing political advertisements in order to influence the American electorate; and
Require all qualifying large online platforms to accompany political ads with disclaimers identifying the purchasers of the ads; and maintain a public file of the ads and the purchasers.

The Honest Ads Act is endorsed by the Campaign Legal Center, the Brennan Center for Justice, Issue One, End Citizens United, and the Digital Innovation Democracy Initiative.

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U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today released the following statement:

“Today marks one year since Vladimir Putin’s Russia launched an unprovoked attack on its peaceful neighbor, Ukraine. Over the last year, Ukrainians have displayed resolve, fortitude, bravery and resourcefulness as they have defended their country against Russia’s brutal invasion.

“The United States, our NATO allies and democracies around the world have rallied to support Ukraine. When the invasion began on February 24, 2022, few imagined where we would be today. Putin erroneously believed that Kyiv would fall in a few days, and that the government of President Zelenskyy would flee. But Putin and his generals could not have been more wrong. The credit for Ukraine’s successful resistance goes mostly to the valor and resilience of Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers, but they have been helped in great measure by the unprecedented assistance provided by the United States and our allies in training, intelligence sharing, humanitarian and financial assistance, and significant amounts of modern military equipment. I was proud to support bipartisan efforts in Congress to approve more than $113 billion in assistance to Ukraine so far.

“For its brutal and unwarranted invasion, Russia has already suffered a huge price in blood and treasure: its military losses have been enormous; its economy battered by the effects of sanctions; its standing as a member of the world community damaged beyond repair. Its attempt to unilaterally upend the order that maintained peace and prosperity in Europe since 1945 must not succeed.

“Ukrainians have demonstrated that they do not want to be part of Russia: they want freedom, democracy and the right to choose their own path. It is for these principles that so many Americans take for granted that so many Ukrainians have laid down their lives. One year into their wholly justified defense of their freedoms, it is my hope that a way forward can be found to end this war while preserving Ukraine’s indisputable right to exist as a sovereign nation.”

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) led more than a dozen senators from both parties in urging for the extension of a policy that allows rural hospitals to continue delivering quality care to their communities. In a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the senators formally requested a four-year extension of the Low Wage Index Hospital Policy, which allows hospitals in rural areas to compete for, and retain, high-quality staff by increasing reimbursements to hospitals in rural areas with lower overall wages. Without action, Medicare payments to these hospitals will reduce after September 30, 2023.

In their letter, the lawmakers pointed out that extenuating circumstances, including the COVID-19 pandemic, have not allowed for adequate evaluation of the Low Wage Index Hospital Policy. They argue that extending the policy will allow CMS to better assess its impact on the benefiting hospitals ability to recruit and retain health care staff.

“Unfortunately, due to disruptions in the marketplace caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have not had the opportunity to see the true impact of the Low Wage Index Hospital Policy envisioned by CMS,” the Senators wrote. “Extending the Low Wage Index Hospital Policy for four additional years will allow hospitals and the agency to better understand the policy’s true impact in a more normal environment.”

In addition to Sens. Warner and Blackburn, the letter was signed by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Joe Manchin (D-WV), John Boozman (R-AR), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), James Lankford (R-OK), Tim Scott (R-SC), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Katie Boyd Britt (R-AL).

Sens. Warner and Blackburn are also the lead sponsors of the Save Rural Hospitals Act, which would establish an appropriate national minimum to the Medicare Area Wage Index to ensure that rural hospitals receive fair payment for the care they provide, while preserving the existing reimbursements for urban hospitals. The legislation, which was introduced in the last several Congresses, will be reintroduced in the 118^th Congress.

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

Dear Administrator Brooks-LaSure:

Thank you for your continued commitment to ensuring all health care providers have the resources they critically need to provide quality health care to Medicare beneficiaries. We write to you regarding the Medicare hospital area wage index (AWI) in the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS). Specifically, we urge you to include a four-year extension of the Low Wage Index Hospital Policy, also known as the Lowest Quartile Adjustment (LQA) policy, in the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 IPPS rule.

In August 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) first included a four-year AWI adjustment to bottom quartile hospitals as part of the FY2020 IPPS (CMS-1716-F). At the time, CMS stated that the policy “reflected a common concern that the current wage index system perpetuates and exacerbates the disparities between high and low wage index hospitals.”[1] To address this concern, CMS increased the wage index for hospitals with a wage index value below the 25th percentile. The additional assistance has been a valuable lifeline for more than 800 hospitals in 23 states throughout FY2020, FY2021, FY2022, and now FY2023.

Unfortunately, due to disruptions in the marketplace caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have not had the opportunity to see the true impact of the Low Wage Index Hospital Policy envisioned by CMS. Extending the Low Wage Index Hospital Policy for four additional years will allow hospitals and the agency to better understand the policy’s true impact in a more normal environment. In its original August 2019 rule, CMS appeared to acknowledge that more time may be needed to implement the policy when it stated, “this policy will be effective for at least 4 years.” We applaud CMS for that foresight and encourage it to extend the policy for four additional years.

The continuation of this critical policy will allow hospitals to recruit and retain health care staff and protect access to care for millions of Americans.

Sincerely,

###

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced $2,950,000 in federal funding to reconnect communities by improving transportation infrastructure in Norfolk and Richmond. The funding is awarded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot grant program (RCP), which supports planning grants, capital construction grants, and technical assistance to reconnect communities that were previously cut off from economic opportunity by transportation infrastructure. The funds can be used to remove, improve, or replace transportation facilities such as highways, roads, and rail lines that create barriers to community connectivity. The RCP Program was established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which the senators voted to pass in 2021.

“Past infrastructure choices have prevented too many Virginians from accessing critical resources and economic opportunity in their communities,” said the Senators. “We’re glad this funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help bring communities together by removing barriers to connectivity and improving our transportation infrastructure.”

The funding is distributed as follows:

$1,600,000 for the Norfolk I-264 Reconnecting Communities Project in Norfolk to plan for a solution to the “spaghetti bowl”, a 14-lane-wide jumble of I-264 ramps and interchanges that cuts a low-income, 97% African American neighborhood off from access and connectivity to the downtown area. The plan will be informed by community engagement.
$1,350,000 for Richmond to improve access and reconnect Jackson Ward through the creation of a new bridge or freeway lid that would incorporate transportation connections, public spaces, and opportunities for future development.

Jackson Ward is a historic African-American community that was physically and economically separated from downtown Richmond by the construction of I-95 and I-64 in the 1950s. In 2021, Kaine visited the neighborhood with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to learn more about the impact of the division on the community and how these funds will help reconnect the neighborhood.

Warner and Kaine have long supported efforts to improve infrastructure across the Commonwealth. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included over $8 billion in federal funds to improve transit and highway systems across Virginia. The recent government funding bill included nearly $200 million to strengthen transportation and recreation infrastructure. Last year, the senators announced $25 million in federal funding to expand I-64.

###

WASHINGTON – Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-VA) sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, pressing the company on its efforts to combat the spread of misinformation, hate speech, and incitement content around the world. Reporting indicates that Facebook devotes 84 percent of its misinformation budget to the United States, where only ten percent of its users reside.

“In its pursuit of growth and dominance in new markets, I worry that Meta has not adequately invested in the technical, organizational, and human safeguards necessary to ensuring that your platform is not used to incite violence and real-world harm,” wrote Sen. Warner, pointing to evidence, acknowledged by Meta, that the platform as used to foment genocide in Myanmar. “I am concerned that Meta is not taking seriously the responsibility it has to ensure that Facebook and its other platforms do not inspire similar events in other nations around the world.”

In his letter, Sen. Warner noted that Facebook supported more than 110 languages on its platform as of October 2021, and users and advertisers posted on the platform in over 160 languages. However, Facebook’s community standards, the policies that outline what is and isn’t allowed on the platform, were available in less than half of the languages that Facebook offered at that time. Facebook has previously said that it uses artificial intelligence to proactively identify hate speech in more than 50 languages and that it has native speakers reviewing content in more than 70 languages.

“Setting aside the efficacy of Facebook’s AI solutions to detect hate speech and violent rhetoric in all of the languages that it offers, the fact that Facebook does not employ native speakers in dozens of languages officially welcomed on its platform is troubling – indicating that Facebook has prioritized growth over the safety of its users and the communities Facebook operates in,” Sen. Warner wrote, citing documents provided by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. “Of particular concern is the lack of resources dedicated to what Facebook itself calls ‘at-risk countries’ – nations that are especially vulnerable to misinformation, hate speech, and incitement to violence.”

Warner noted that in Ethiopia, Facebook reportedly did not have automated systems capable of flagging harmful posts in Amharic and Oromo, the country’s two most spoken languages. A March 2021 internal report said that armed groups within Ethiopia were using Facebook to incite violence against ethnic minorities, recruit, and fundraise.

“In the wake of Facebook’s role in the genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar – where UN investigators explicitly described Facebook as playing a ‘determining role’ in the atrocities – one would imagine more resources would be dedicated to places like Ethiopia. Even in languages where Meta does have experience, the systems in place appear woefully inadequate at preventing violent hate speech from appearing on Facebook,” observed Sen. Warner, citing an investigation conducted by the non-profit Global Witness, which was able to post ads in Swahili and English ahead of the 2022 general elections in Kenya that violated Facebook’s stated Community Standards for hate speech and ethnic-based calls to violence.

“Unfortunately, these are not isolated cases – or new revelations. For nearly six years, Facebook’s role in fueling, amplifying, and accelerating racial, religious, and ethnic violence has been documented across the globe – including in Bangladesh, Indonesia, South Sudan, and Sri Lanka. In other developing countries – such as Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines – Facebook has reportedly courted autocratic parties and leaders in order to ensure its continued penetration of those markets,” wrote Sen. Warner. “Across many of these cases, Facebook’s global success – an outgrowth of its business strategy to cultivate high levels of global dependence through efforts like Facebook Free Basics and Internet.org – has heightened the effects of its misuse. In many developing countries, Facebook, in effect, constitutes the internet for millions of people, and serves as the infrastructure for significant social, political, and economic activity.”

“Ultimately, the destabilizing impacts of your platform on fragile societies across the globe poses a set of regional – if not global – security risks,” concluded Warner, posing a series of questions to Zuckerberg about the company’s investments in foreign language content moderation and requesting a response by March 15, 2023.

A full copy of the letter is available here.

###

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner joined Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chris Murphy (D-CT) and a group of 31 colleagues in a letter urging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take immediate action and address short-term limited duration insurance (STLDI) plans, or junk plans, which fail to provide adequate, comprehensive health insurance coverage.

In 2018, in an effort to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Trump Administration made junk plans more widely available to consumers. Since then, these plans have continued to expand, however, they are not required to adhere to important standards, including prohibitions on discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions, coverage for the 10 essential health benefit (EHB) categories, and annual out-of-pocket maximums.

“Now, more than ever, the Department of Health and Human Services must act. Beginning in April, millions of Americans will likely lose the Medicaid coverage that they have relied upon during the COVID-19 pandemic. We must protect those who will be looking for coverage in the near future, and take steps to ensure that these plans are not allowed to further proliferate,” wrote the Senators. “It is past time for your Department to step up and address the expansion and proliferation of junk plans.”

In addition to Sens. Warner, Baldwin, and Murphy, the letter was signed by Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Casey (D-PA), Christopher Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Timothy Kaine (D-VA), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Edward Markey (D-MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Peter Welch (D-VT).

Full text of the letter can be found here and below.

Dear Secretary Becerra,

As we celebrate the State of the Union and the important gains that we have made when it comes to expanding the availability of comprehensive, affordable health care coverage, we write once again to urge you to take immediate action and address short-term limited duration insurance plans, or, junk plans. Now, more than ever, the Department of Health and Human Services must act. Beginning in April, millions of Americans will likely lose the Medicaid coverage that they have relied upon during the COVID-19 pandemic. We must protect those who will be looking for coverage in the near future, and take steps to ensure that these plans are not allowed to further proliferate.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Families First) (P.L. 116-127) provided additional federal Medicaid funding to states during the COVID-19 public health emergency in exchange for maintaining coverage, specifically by meeting certain maintenance-of-effort requirements. These requirements barred states from lowering income eligibility levels, imposing new premiums or other barriers to enrollment, and involuntarily disenrolling individuals from their programs. According to federal data, Medicaid enrollment has increased by over 30 percent since February of 2020, an additional 19.5 million people. Congress has also worked to provide additional financial support for those who purchase ACA marketplace plans, and in August, passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which extended the additional financial support first enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan. As a result of this additional support, consumers saved an average of $800 on their premiums in 2021, and will continue to see savings through 2025.

As part of the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) omnibus, Congress took steps to uncouple the maintenance-of-effort requirements included in Families First from the public health emergency in order to avert both a Medicaid coverage and funding cliff. Starting on April 1, 2023, states will be able to begin conducting Medicaid eligibility redeterminations and enhanced federal funding will gradually phase out from April through December 2023. In order to receive enhanced funding during this period, states must follow all federal requirements related to redeterminations, update beneficiaries’ contact information, and use multiple methods to contact individuals when they have moved and have an out-of-date mailing address. States will also be required to submit monthly reports on unwinding, including information indicating where beneficiaries are experiencing challenges.

Congress worked to make sure that the FY23 omnibus gave state Medicaid programs a roadmap for the months ahead and enacted the Inflation Reduction Act to provide additional financial support for those enrolling in health coverage through the marketplace. It is now time for the Administration to do its job and act to protect those who will be seeking to enroll in coverage in the coming months.

According to estimates from your Department, approximately 15 million individuals will lose Medicaid or CHIP coverage in the coming year and will therefore require affordable health care coverage. Millions will be eligible for significant financial assistance to purchase comprehensive coverage on the marketplace. But without additional protections, many Americans could find themselves enrolled in junk plans that do not provide comprehensive coverage or protection for individuals with pre-existing conditions. These plans, which were actively promoted by the previous Administration and remain unchecked, are not required to comply with consumer protections that limit out-of-pocket costs or coverage of essential health benefits, including mental health services, treatment for substance-use disorder, prescription drug benefits, and maternity care. Furthermore, these plans engage in the type of discriminatory practices, such as retroactive coverage rescissions, medical underwriting, and lifetime and annual caps, which were commonplace before the Affordable Care Act.

Since President Biden took office, he has prioritized expanding access to comprehensive, affordable health coverage. Congress has supported these efforts. It is past time for your Department to step up and address the expansion and proliferation of junk plans.

Sincerely,

###

WASHINGTON – Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) wrote to the Biden administration to request that it expand the use of existing tools and authorities at the Departments of Treasury and Commerce to prevent China’s military industrial complex from benefiting from U.S. technology, talent and investments.

In a pair of letters, the Senators expressed concern with the flow of U.S. innovation, talent, and capital into the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which seeks to exert control over global supply chains, achieve technological superiority, and rise as the dominant economic and military power in the world. They also stress the need to utilize the authorities at the government’s disposal to protect U.S. interests and ensure that American businesses, investors, and consumers are not inadvertently advancing China’s authoritarian interests or supporting its ongoing genocide in Xinjiang and human rights abuses in Tibet and Hong Kong.

In their letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the Senators wrote, “It is widely known that the PRC’s Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) program targets technological advancements in the U.S., as well as university and research partnerships with the U.S., for the PRC’s military development. U.S. technology, talent, and capital continue to contribute—through both lawful and unlawful means, including theft—to the PRC’s development of critical military-use industries, technologies, and related supply chains. The breadth of the MCF program’s ambitions and reach creates dangerous vulnerabilities for U.S. national and economic security as well as undermines respect for democratic values globally.”

The Senators also posed a number of questions for Sec. Yellen regarding Treasury’s internal Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) lists, which do not include a number of entities and individuals who have been identified by the U.S. Government as posing national security risks or human rights concerns.

In their letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the Senators wrote, “Despite recent restrictions on the export of sensitive technologies critical to U.S. national security, we remain deeply concerned that American technology, investment, and talent continue to support the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) military industrial complex, intelligence and security apparatus, its ongoing genocide, and other PRC efforts to displace United States economic leadership. As such, we urge the Department of Commerce to immediately use its authorities to more broadly restrict these activities.”

The Senators also requested answers from Sec. Raimondo regarding America’s most critical high-technology sectors, the Department’s ability and authority to evaluate companies’ reliance on China and assess the flow of U.S. innovation to PRC entities.

A copy of the letter to the Department of Treasury is available here. A copy of the letter to the Department of Commerce is available here.

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