WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) issued the following statement applauding today’s House passage of the Fiscal Year 2022 spending package, which will fund the federal government, deliver crucial aid to Ukraine, and finally release hundreds of millions of dollars in funding available through the bipartisan infrastructure law:

“We are pleased to see the House of Representatives vote to pass a full-year spending package, which will prevent a costly shutdown and provide key federal funding for some of Virginia’s top priorities. This bill will also deliver crucial humanitarian aid and military assistance to the people of Ukraine as they continue to fight against Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion. Once signed by the President, this bill will also allow historic infrastructure investments to proceed full steam ahead by finally funding new programs authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law last year. We stand ready to work with our Senate colleagues to pass this bill quickly and send it to the President’s desk.” 

As part of FY2022 appropriations, the Senate revived a process that allows members of Congress to make Congressionally Directed Spending requests, otherwise known as earmarks, in a manner that promotes transparency and accountability. This process allows Congress to dedicate federal funding for specific projects. Through strong advocacy, Sens. Warner and Kaine were able to secure dedicated funding for Virginia communities totaling more than $85 million dollars. 

More information regarding specific projects in Virginia that will receive Congressionally Directed Spending is available below:

• For projects in Northern Virginia, click here.
• For projects in Central Virginia, click here.    
• For projects in the Shenandoah Valley, click here.
• For projects in Southwest Virginia and Southside, click here.
• For projects in Hampton Roads, click here.

This bill also includes major funding for a number of Warner and Kaine priorities:  

• Shipbuilding: The bill provides more than $26 billion in funding for critical Navy shipbuilding priorities, many of which have a direct connection to Virginia and the Hampton Roads region, to include: Ford-class Aircraft Carrier Construction ($2.34 billion), Aircraft Carrier Overhaul ($2.48 billion), and Virginia- ($6.33 billion) and Columbia-class ($4.77 billion) Submarine construction.

• Virginia military construction: Provides more than $361 million in funding for 11 military construction projects across the Commonwealth, including in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Quantico, Ft. Belvoir, Sandston, Troutville, and at the Pentagon.

• IRS backlog: Provides $12.6 billion for IRS funding. This funding will help continue to eliminate the 2020 tax return backlog, more efficiently process 2021 tax returns, and improve customer service. Sens. Warner and Kaine have consistently supported sufficient funding to allow the IRS to meet the needs of taxpayers. 

• Fighting Violence Against Women: Reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act, marking the first time in nearly a decade that VAWA has been reauthorized. The bill also provides $575 million, the highest level ever, in funding provided for multiple competitive and formula grant programs that support training for police officers and prosecutors, state coalitions to respond to domestic violence and sexual assault, rape prevention programs, lethality assessment and homicide reduction initiatives, domestic violence hotlines, and women’s shelters and transitional housing support services.

• Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act: Includes $5 million to assist state and local governments with entering data into the National Incident-Based Reporting System, which will improve how hate crimes are collected by the FBI, establish hate crime reporting hotlines, and develop and adopt policies on identifying, investigating, and reporting hate crimes. Sens. Warner and Kaine first introduced the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act legislation in 2019. It is partially named after Heather Heyer, a Virginia constituent who was killed in the 2017 white supremacy protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

• Ashanti Alert: Includes $1 million to help with the nationwide implementation of the Ashanti Alert system. In 2018, Sen. Warner secured unanimous Senate passage of the Ashanti Alert Act, legislation that will create a new federal alert system for missing or endangered adults between the ages of 18-64.  The bill was signed into law on December 31, 2018. 

• Funding for Community Development Financial Institutions: Provides $295 million for the CDFI Fund, including $173 million for financial and technical assistance grants and $35 million for the Bank Enterprise Award Program. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Warner has successfully pushed for increased funding for CDFIs to support and advance access to capital for underserved communities in Virginia.

• Military Families: Provides $1.4 billion in funding to improve and maintain housing, and to address challenges related to privatized military housing impacting servicemembers and their families. It also provides $278.1 million in housing assistance and $119.6 million for food assistance efforts for servicemembers and their families. For years, Sens. Warner and Kaine have fought to improve housing conditions. Sen. Warner has also been focused on improving food access for servicemembers and their families.

• Pell Grant: The omnibus provides a $400 boost to the maximum Pell Grant in the 2022-23 school year to raise the maximum award to $6,895. This is the largest increase to the Pell Grant since the 2009-2010 school year. The omnibus also included the technical fix based on Sen. Kaine’s Protecting Our Gold Star Families’ Education Act to exclude the Iraq And Afghanistan Service Grant from sequestration and ensure that recipients of this grant have access to the maximum Pell Grant award. Over 137,500 Virginia students receive the Pell Grant each year.

• Intelligence Authorization Act: Includes the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, which authorizes funding, provides legal authorities, and enhances congressional oversight for the U.S. Intelligence Community – a priority for Sen. Warner as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

• Cyber Incident Reporting: Includes Warner-sponsored legislation to require companies responsible for U.S. critical infrastructure to report cybersecurity incidents to the government.

• Havana Syndrome: Provides additional funding to support personnel who have been impacted by anomalous health incidents. Chairman Warner and Sen. Kaine have been outspoken on the need to support afflicted personnel. 

• Rural Broadband: Provides more than $550 million for expansion of broadband service, including an additional $450 million for the ReConnect program to expand rural broadband access. Sens. Warner and Kaine have been longtime champions for increased access to broadband. As part of the American Rescue Plan, they secured $10 billion to help states, territories and tribal governments expand access to broadband.

• Miners: Provides more than $11.8 million for clinics that provide critical health care for coal workers with job-related lung diseases. The bill also directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prioritize maintenance of its Black Lung health screening mobile unit and urges the CDC to consider purchasing an additional unit, noting that early screening and detection of black lung can improve health outcomes and reduce mortality.

• Colonial National Historical Park: Provides $128.7 million to help rehabilitate sections of the Colonial Parkway. This funding was included in the President’s FY22 budget request and was made available by the Great American Outdoors Act negotiated by Sen. Warner.

• Appalachian Regional Commission: Includes $195 million for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), an increase of $15 million from FY21. This is in addition to the $1 billion provided to ARC through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act over five years.

• Synthetic Nicotine: Provides a legislative fix to clarify the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authority to regulate products containing synthetic nicotine as tobacco products. Nicotine that can be chemically synthesized in a laboratory—rather than derived from tobacco—currently falls outside of FDA’s statutory definition of a tobacco product, which contributed to the explosion of youth use of e-cigarettes. Sen. Kaine worked with a bipartisan group of colleagues to successfully secure this language, aimed at reducing the number of children and teens addicted to harmful e-cigarettes.

• Maternal Vaccination: Includes provisions calling on the Secretary of Health and Human Services to consider the importance of vaccination awareness in carrying out public awareness campaigns. Specifically, the Secretary is asked to take into consideration the importance of increasing awareness and knowledge of the safety and effectiveness of vaccines to prevent disease in pregnant and postpartum women and infants, and the need to improve vaccination rates in such communities. This provision stems from Sen. Kaine’s bill, S.345, the Maternal Vaccinations Act.

• Norfolk Harbor and Channels Deepening Project: Provides an additional $83.7 million for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve navigation and expand capacity by deepening and widening the harbor’s shipping channels. This will enable safer access for larger commercial and naval vessels and provide significant new economic opportunities to the region. This funding is in addition to the more than $69.3 million the Senators announced in January as a result of the IIJA.

• Blue Ridge Parkway: Includes $32.8 million to help rehabilitate sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This funding was included in the President’s FY22 budget request and was made available by the Great American Outdoors Act negotiated by Sen. Warner.

• Chesapeake Bay Program: Includes $88 million for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program. This funding is in addition to the $238 million provided to the Chesapeake Bay Program over five years through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

This legislation now heads to the Senate, which will need to pass it before sending it off to the President’s desk for approval.

###

 WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) applauded $1,530,000 in federal funding awarded to school districts across the Commonwealth. The funds were administered through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of two programs: the 2021 American Rescue Plan Electric School Bus Rebates and the annual 2021 Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) School Bus Rebates. The funds will go towards the replacement of old diesel school buses with new electric, propane, compressed natural gas, diesel or gasoline buses that will reduce harmful emissions in the environment.

“We are glad to see so many Virginia school districts receive funding to invest in electric school buses and cleaner vehicles,” the Senators said. “This investment will significantly benefit our communities by reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. We look forward to helping Virginia school districts compete for additional funding through the $5 billion clean and electric school bus grant program in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”  

The funds will be broken down as follows:

• $900,000 for three school buses for Petersburg City Public Schools as part of the 2021 American Rescue Plan Electric School Bus Rebates.

This new program provides funds to replace old diesel school buses with new, zero-emission electric school buses. The funds are reserved exclusively for school districts in underserved communities, Tribal schools, and private fleets serving those schools.

• $250,000 for 10 buses for Newport News Public Schools as part of the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) School Bus Rebates.
• $200,000 for 10 buses for Loudoun County Public Schools as part of the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) School Bus Rebates.
• $100,000 for five buses for Carroll County Public Schools as part of the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) School Bus Rebates.
• $80,000 for four buses for Culpeper County Public Schools as part of the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) School Bus Rebates.

This program funds the replacement of old diesel school buses with new electric, diesel, gasoline, propane, or compressed natural gas school buses meeting current emission standards.

###

“This legislation is a strong first step towards improving the costly and unacceptable delays within the United States Postal Service,” Sen. Warner said. “The USPS provides essential services to Americans across the country, and it is crucial that we maintain a healthy and solvent USPS moving forward. I am proud to support this bill, which will increase transparency and work to address the widespread delays experienced by Virginians.” 

The Postal Service Reform Act includes multiple provisions that will: 

• Eliminate the aggressive prefunding requirement that has hurt the Postal Service financially, and integrate postal worker retirees’ health care with Medicare. Together, these two reforms would create over $49 billion in savings for the Postal Service over the next ten years. 
• Require the Postal Service to maintain its standard of delivering at least six days a week.
• Improve transparency of Postal Service operations to both customers and Congress by requiring the publication of easily accessible weekly service data on the Postal Service website, as well as issuing a detailed report to Congress every six months on Postal Service finances and operations.

Sen. Warner has been an active and vocal proponent of addressing the mail delay problems affecting Virginians all across the Commonwealth. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with families increasingly relying on USPS, Sen. Warner raised concerns regarding the operational and structural changes implemented by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and their impact on timely mail delivery. In February 2021, after hearing from hundreds of Virginians, Sen. Warner urged U.S. Postmaster General DeJoy to rescind the harmful policy changes delaying mail delivery. Shortly thereafter, Sen. Warner pressed DeJoy for answers on measures to restore on-time mail delivery, and called on congressional leaders to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors.

During August and November visits to Charlottesville, Sen. Warner has continued to push for a long-term solution and increased communication from USPS.     

Sen. Warner has long been an advocate for postal reform. In 2015, he cosponsored the Improving Postal Operations, Service, and Transparency (iPost) Act  that aimed to improve service of the USPS through a series of new standards.  

Full text of the Postal Service Reform Act is available here.

###

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine today announced $350,000 in federal funding for Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia, Inc. (HOME) in Richmond to support fair housing. The funding was awarded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Fair Housing Initiatives Program. Supplemental funding for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program was included in the American Rescue Plan , supported by Senators Warner and Kaine.

“Too many Virginians are denied equal housing opportunities because of illegal discrimination,” said Senator Kaine. “As a former fair housing attorney, I’ve seen how housing impacts a family’s health and financial well-being. I’m glad this funding will help HOME ensure more Virginians have access to safe and affordable housing.”

“Discriminatory practices should never prevent Virginians from accessing affordable and fair housing opportunities,” said Senator Warner. “I am glad to see these funds go towards providing HOME with the resources needed to help more Virginians in need.” 

Specifically, HOME will use the funding for virtual fair housing workshops and enforcement-related activities. HOME will also hold a Fair Housing Pandemic Roundtable and conduct interviews with Virginians who have been evicted or displaced during the pandemic.

As a former fair housing attorney, Kaine represented Virginians who were denied housing due to discrimination. His first case as a lawyer was referred by HOME, and he subsequently worked with the organization on dozens of other cases.

Warner and Kaine have long supported efforts to increase affordable housing and homeownership. In September 2021, Warner and Kaine introduced the Low-Income First Time Homebuyers (LIFT) Act, which would establish a new program to help first-time, first-generation homebuyers – predominately Americans of color – by offering new homeowners a 20-year mortgage for roughly the same monthly payment as a traditional 30-year loan. In October 2021, Warner and Kaine also joined their colleagues in introducing the Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2021, which would provide federal grants to assist first-generation homebuyers with qualifying expenses toward purchasing their first home, including downpayment costs, closing costs, and costs to reduce the rates of interest.

###

DENVER – Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.), chair of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, met with leadership from the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Intelligence Community (IC) at Schriever Space Force Base and Buckley Space Force Base.

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and violation of international rules and norms demonstrates the urgency of the U.S. maintaining a stable space domain. The senators’ meetings highlighted the defense and intelligence elements in Colorado key to U.S. space missions, including U.S Space Command, and underscored the central role Colorado maintains in both space and national security innovation. 

“Amid Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and an increasingly congested and contested space domain, it’s more important than ever that the Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense work together to protect and defend against threats to our nation’s space assets,” said Warner. “Today’s visit further demonstrates the need to keep Space Command in Colorado, where the IC and DoD are working in concert on a number of critical national security programs.”

“As Russian aggression threatens the international norms that have kept Americans safe, U.S. leadership and stability in space is more critical than ever, and I’m grateful Chairman Warner joined me today to see first-hand Colorado’s extensive space and national security assets,” said Bennet. “We should be spending money to build on investments that have already been made to our space mission, not on moving Space Command and starting from scratch. Our visits today, once again, reinforced that Colorado is the most strategic choice for the permanent home for USSPACECOM.”

###

 WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) and Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (both D-MD) announced $120,145,016 in federal funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). This funding, awarded through the Department of Transportation (DOT), was authorized by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) supported by the Senators and signed by President Joe Biden.

“One year ago, we voted to pass a historic piece of legislation to help strengthen our nation amid a global health and economic crisis. As we work to overcome the most recent challenges presented by the Omicron spike, we’re proud to see the American Rescue Plan continue to deliver needed support to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. This funding will help ensure that WMATA is able to meet the needs of its riders, including public servants, residents, and commuters in the DMV region,” said the Senators.

“We are thankful to our Congressional delegation as well as the Biden Administration for their support of WMATA’s grant application under the American Rescue Plan which provides Metro $120 million in operating funding and will support continued operations. These funds will be helpful in our continued preparation to keep the region moving as many reenter the workplace and resume leisure activities," said Metro General Manager and CEO Paul Weidefeld. 

ARP Additional Assistance Funding is awarded to transit systems demonstrating a need for additional assistance to cover operating expenses related to maintaining day-to-day operations, cleaning and sanitization, combating the spread of pathogens on transit systems and maintaining critical staffing levels. This funding is supplemental to the $1,406,707,926 in Federal Transit Authority (FTA) Urbanized Area Formula funds distributed through ARP.

###

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Sen. Elizabeth Warren, as well as a bicameral group of their colleagues, in urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Thomas Vilsack to issue guidance clarifying college students’ eligibility for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to address the growing food insecurity crisis among college students.

“College students represent the future of America. Not only is it critical that we don’t saddle students with debt, but the Administration should also use its executive authority to ensure low-income students have the information they need to access SNAP and other federal benefits to help them stay focused and successful in their studies,” the senators wrote. “USDA has the authority to change that.”

“While we work on securing legislation to both make permanent and expand the [Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act] student provisions, we strongly urge USDA to use its authority to expeditiously issue guidance that clarifies the student SNAP eligibility rules, which would expand on the Biden Administration’s actions to ensure students have access to federal nutrition resources to meet their basic needs,” the senators concluded.

The senators specifically call on USDA to issue guidance to clarify that the following groups are eligible for SNAP benefits without work requirements: low-income students who have been approved for federal or state work study; low-income students enrolled in community college and in four-year college programs that are career-focused or in paths resulting in high employability after graduation; and low-income students with disabilities, including students with learning disabilities and serious medical conditions.

Students experiencing hunger have a harder time succeeding in school. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, a GAO report found that nearly two million students at risk of going hungry were potentially eligible for SNAP but did not report receiving benefits in 2016. The COVID-19 pandemic has also worsened food insecurity among college students and exacerbated racial disparities in hunger. A 2020 survey conducted by the Hope Center at Temple University found 32 percent of Virginia Community College System’s (VCCS) students had experienced food insecurity in the prior 30 days.

Since the pandemic began, Warner and Kaine have secured federal funding to expand access to food assistance for students, including successfully pushing USDA to make food distribution policies more flexible for Virginia’s families. They also helped secure Virginia’s request to operate a Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program to ensure children have access to healthy food while at home.

In addition to Warner, Kaine, and Warren, the letter was also signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chris Murphy (D-CO), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Representatives Al Lawson (D-FL), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), and Norma J. Torres (D-CA).

The full text of the letter is available below:

Dear Secretary Vilsack:

We are writing urging you to issue guidance clarifying Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility to address the growing food security crisis among college students. While we appreciate the Biden Administration’s recent actions to support college students during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic1 – particularly given the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on low-income college students, students of color, first-generation college students, and single parents2 – there remains an urgent need to ensure that low-income students are both informed about and have access to critical federal benefits, including nutrition benefits.

COVID-19 has worsened food insecurity among college students and exacerbated racial disparities in hunger. A nationwide survey of students in fall 2020 by the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice found that 70% of Black and 70% of American Indian or Alaska Native students experienced food insecurity, housing insecurity, or homelessness—rates substantially higher than their white peers.3 Overall, 3 in 5 students do not have enough to eat or a stable place to live.4 The setbacks will be even more significant for students who are low-income, the first in their families to attend college, and parenting students.

The Biden Administration has taken critical steps to support college students’ basic needs during the pandemic, including by providing nearly $200 million in American Rescue Plan funds through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds.5 We also applaud the use of financial aid data to communicate with students about SNAP and federal benefits for which they may be eligible.6 This builds on the important interagency work that the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Education (ED) started to better coordinate implementation of the temporary student provisions authorized under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA) title of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.7

Yet even after the public health emergency ends, the economic repercussions of the pandemic will be felt for years. College students represent the future of America. Not only is it critical that we don’t saddle students with debt, but the Administration should also use its executive authority to ensure low-income students have the information they need to access SNAP and other federal benefits to help them stay focused and successful in their studies.

In December 2018, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a detailed report analyzing 31 studies that identified widespread food insecurity among students.8 The GAO report concluded that college students experiencing hunger have a harder time succeeding in school and found that nearly two million students at risk of going hungry were potentially eligible for SNAP but did not report receiving benefits in 2016.9 Given that the GAO report and related studies were conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are deeply concerned that significantly more college students may struggle in accessing SNAP benefits after the temporary CRRSAA provisions sunset.10

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the public messaging around SNAP for college students routinely suggested that college students must show they “work at least 20 hours a week”11 to qualify for benefits and failed to highlight the additional statutory exemptions under 7 U.S.C. § 2015 (e) that expand eligibility for students who do not satisfy these work requirements. As the GAO report found, thousands of low-income students who should qualify for SNAP never accessed these benefits, in large part because of the very complex SNAP eligibility rules.12 USDA has the authority to change that under 7 U.S.C. § 2015 (e).

While we acknowledge and appreciate the additional effort USDA and ED have taken to encourage states to reach potentially eligible students by using financial aid data while the temporary CRRSSA provisions are in place,13 this does not resolve the importance of clarifying the long-standing student eligibility rules, given the well-documented barriers students face to accessing SNAP benefits. Specifically, we urge USDA to issue guidance to states that clarifies, in accordance with the exemptions listed under 7 U.S.C. § 2015 (e), that students under the following circumstances, at a minimum, are not required to satisfy any work requirements to access SNAP benefits:

Low-income students approved for federal or state work study are eligible for SNAP benefits while they search for available work study positions or funding, whether or not their college is able to secure them a position. Cash-strapped colleges may not have the requisite matching funds for federal work study grants awarded to students, but students should not be denied SNAP benefits simply because their financial aid awards are not fulfilled.

Low-income students are SNAP eligible when enrolled in community college and in four-year college programs that are career-focused and/or in paths resulting in high employability after graduation. All states should be afforded the discretion to exempt students at community colleges, and in such four-year college programs, from the work requirement and should be encouraged to use this discretion to broadly expand SNAP access. Students’ academic success should not be delayed or derailed because they need to take on additional work responsibilities to access nutrition benefits.

Low-income students with disabilities, including students with learning disabilities as well as serious medical conditions, are eligible for SNAP under the “physical or mental unfitness” exemption. Many students qualify for accommodations at their colleges based on their disabilities or health conditions, including tutoring, extra time on exams and projects, and mental health services as well as students enrolled through their state’s Rehabilitation Act or veterans rehabilitation program.14 Burdening these students with an additional 20 hours per week of work effectively undermines successful completion of their education.

While we work on securing legislation to both make permanent and expand the CRRSAA student provisions, we strongly urge USDA to use its authority to expeditiously issue guidance that clarifies the student SNAP eligibility rules, which would expand on the Biden Administration’s actions to ensure students have access to federal nutrition resources to meet their basic needs.

Sincerely,

###

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.), Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-R.I.) led a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen raising concerns regarding the potential use of cryptocurrency to evade sanctions, which have become even more urgent amid the sanctions imposed on Russia after their invasion of Ukraine. 

“We write to inquire about the Treasury Department’s progress in monitoring and enforcing sanctions compliance by the cryptocurrency industry and to express our concern that criminals, rogue states, and other actors may use digital assets and alternative payment platforms as a new means to hide cross-border transactions for nefarious purposes,” the senators wrote. “Given the need to ensure the efficacy and integrity of our sanctions program against Russia and other adversaries, we are seeking information on the steps Treasury is taking to enforce sanctions compliance by the cryptocurrency industry.”

The cryptocurrency industry has seen tremendous growth in recent years, with its market capitalization roughly tripling in 2021 to reach nearly $3 trillion. Recognizing the rapid growth of the market, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) released its “Sanctions Compliance Guidance for the Virtual Currency Industry” last October, which outlines best practices for compliance and makes clear that all actors in the cryptocurrency space are “responsible for ensuring that they do not engage, directly or indirectly, in transactions prohibited by OFAC sanctions.” 

“Strong enforcement of sanctions compliance in the cryptocurrency industry is critical given that digital assets, which allow entities to bypass the traditional financial system, may increasingly be used as a tool for sanctions evasion,” the senators wrote.

There are growing concerns that Russia may use cryptocurrencies to circumvent the broad new sanctions it faces from the Biden administration and foreign governments in response to its invasion of Ukraine. This could include the use of dark web marketplaces that are powered by cryptocurrencies to move funds and conduct transactions; the use of crypto wallets and mixing services that allow sanctioned entities to transfer and hide their wealth; deployment of a digital ruble that would allow Russia to conduct foreign trade without converting their currency into dollars; and ransomware attacks that would allow Russian actors to recoup revenues lost to sanctions. Nearly three-quarters of all global ransomware revenue last year, or more than $400 million in cryptocurrency payments, is estimated to have gone to Russia-affiliated entities.

Moreover, when OFAC has brought enforcement actions against cryptocurrency industry participants, it has generally accorded substantial deference to mitigating factors in assessing penalties – even in cases where a company has not voluntarily self-disclosed apparent violations. This approach has yielded penalties that are orders of magnitude below even the base civil monetary penalties for violations.

“These reports are even more troubling because of analyses that suggest that the cryptocurrency industry may not be fulfilling its responsibility to comply with U.S. sanctions,” the senators continued. “We are concerned that OFAC has not developed sufficiently strong and effective procedures for enforcement in the cryptocurrency industry.”

The senators have requested responses to their questions no later than March 23, 2022. 

For full text of the letter click here.  

###

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine today sent a letter to President Biden recommending candidates for the vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. In their letter, the Senators recommended Mr. Jamar Walker, who has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia since 2015, and Judge Kevin Duffan, who has been a Circuit Court Judge on the 2nd Judicial Circuit in Virginia Beach, Virginia since April 2020.

“We are pleased to recommend Mr. Jamar Walker and Judge Kevin Duffan for the vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia following the decision by Judge Raymond A. Jackson to take senior status effective November 23, 2021,” wrote the Senators. “Both would serve with great distinction and have our highest recommendation.”

Warner and Kaine recommend these individuals based on their distinguished records and the assessments of an independent panel of attorneys from across the Commonwealth. The President will now nominate one individual for the vacancy to be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The nominations are subject to confirmation by the full Senate.

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

Dear Mr. President:

We are pleased to recommend Mr. Jamar Walker and Judge Kevin Duffan for the vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia following the decision by Judge Raymond A. Jackson to take senior status effective November 23, 2021. Both would serve with great distinction and have our highest recommendation.

Mr. Walker has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia since 2015 where he prosecutes financial and public corruption crimes. He began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Jackson in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. While an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mr. Walker co-founded an office-wide Committee on Race, Policing, and Prosecution. He is a current member of the Old Dominion Bar Association, the National LGBT Bar Association, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Association of Black Attorneys, and DOJ Pride. He was born and raised on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and considers Tidewater his home. Together, these experiences qualify Mr. Walker for this nomination and we are honored to recommend him.

Judge Duffan has been a Circuit Court Judge on the 2nd Judicial Circuit in Virginia Beach, Virginia, since April 2020. Prior to joining the Circuit Court, Judge Duffan served as a judge in the Virginia Beach Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court. Judge Duffan is engaged in the community and with young lawyers as a mentor. He has served on the Virginia Beach African American Cultural Center Board as Vice President, The Governor's School for the Arts Foundation Board, and was President-elect of the Virginia Beach Bar Association before ascending to the bench. These experiences give us confidence that Judge Duffan would make an excellent nominee for this seat.

Ultimately, we believe either of these individuals would win confirmation from the Senate and serve capably on the bench. We are honored to recommend them to you.

###

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today sent letters to Alphabet, Meta, Reddit, Telegram, TikTok, and Twitter urging the companies to prevent misuse of their platforms by Russia and Russia-linked entities.

“In addition to Russia’s established use of influence operations as a tool of strategic influence, information warfare constitutes an integral part of Russian military doctrine. As this conflict continues, we can expect to see an escalation in Russia’s use of both overt and covert means to sow confusion about the conflict and promote disinformation narratives that weaken the global response to these illegal acts. While social media can provide valuable information to civilians in conflict zones, and educate audiences far removed from those conflict zones, as well as a platform for some relatively independent media outlets – including in Russia – it can also serve as a vector for harmful misinformation and disinformation campaigns, and a wide range of scams and frauds that opportunistically exploit confusion, desperation, and grief,” the senator wrote.

Copies of the letter sent to Meta, Reddit, Telegram, TikTok, and Twitter are available for download.

In his letter to YouTube parent company Alphabet, Sen. Warner noted that just yesterday his staff observed YouTube ads monetizing content regarding the conflict in Ukraine from RT, Sputnik and TASS, malign actors affiliated with the Russian government.

“Unfortunately, your platforms continue to be key vectors for malign actors – including, notably, those affiliated with the Russian government – to not only spread disinformation, but to profit from it. YouTube, for instance, continues to monetize the content of prominent influence actors that have been publicly connected to Russian influence campaigns,” the senator wrote.

Sen. Warner urged the companies to – at a minimum – take the following steps:

• Establish mechanisms by which Ukrainian public safety entities can disseminate emergency communications to your users in Ukraine;
• Furnish additional account monitoring and security resources to Ukrainian government, humanitarian, and public safety institutions to prevent account takeovers;
• Surge integrity teams, including those with language expertise in Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Romanian, and German, to monitor your platform for malign influence activity related to the conflict;
• Devote additional resources towards the identification of inauthentic accounts, and the removal or labeling of inauthentic content, associated with Russian influence operations; and
• Establish dedicated reporting channels for qualified academic, public interest, and open source intelligence researchers to share credible information about inauthentic activity, disinformation, and other malign efforts utilizing your platforms.

Sen. Warner has released multiple statements harshly condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which can be found here and here.

###

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

“For more than 70 years, we have avoided large-scale war in Europe. With his illegal invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has tragically brought decades of general peace to an end. Now the U.S. and our NATO allies must stand united and resolute against Putin’s efforts to renew the Russian empire at the expense of the Ukrainian people.

“President Biden has already imposed an initial tranche of sanctions, and it is now time for us to up the pain level for the Russian government. We should also continue to bolster the defenses of our NATO allies while exploring how we can further help the Ukrainian people in their time of need.

“While there is still an opportunity for Russia to reverse course, we can no longer hold out hope that this standoff will be resolved peacefully. Therefore, we must all, on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Atlantic, work together to demonstrate to Putin that this aggression will not be allowed to go unpunished.

“What is happening in Ukraine is a tragedy not only for Ukraine, but for the Russian people as well. They will pay a steep cost for Putin’s reckless ambition, in blood and in economic harm.”

###

WASHINGTON – With billions of dollars in infrastructure funding up for grabs, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) is working to give a leg up to Virginia’s counties, cities, towns, tribes, and stakeholders. Today, Sen. Warner unveiled a new resource webpage that will make these dollars as accessible as possible for Virginia localities as they prepare to compete for the funding, which was authorized by the bipartisan infrastructure law negotiated by Sen. Warner and signed by President Joe Biden.

“I’m excited to launch this page to help Virginia localities access the funding I was proud to negotiate and secure through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Virginia stands to gain a historic amount of competitive funding, but only if we apply and compete for it. This site will help connect Virginians to key resources and help them stay on top of grant and funding opportunities,” said Sen. Warner. 

Among other things, the site:

• Visualizes application due dates with an interactive calendar, allowing users to better track deadlines.
• Filters grants by federal agency, allowing users to better locate grants that fit their needs.
• Enables users to easily request a letter from the Senator in support of a grant application.
• Provides a snapshot look at the funding that is already making its way to Virginia, and allows users to view in detail how that funding will be distributed and utilized throughout the Commonwealth. 

This competitive funding comes in addition to billions of dollars in formula funding, also authorized by the bipartisan infrastructure law. Formula funding is non-competitive and determined by pre-existing formulas, which are based on statistical criteria. In general, states, localities, and other entities that normally receive infrastructure funding from Congress can expect to receive a boost of additional federal dollars, distributed through traditional programs.

###