WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) met virtually with Patrick Kenney, the new superintendent of Shenandoah National Park and Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park.  

In the meeting, Sen. Warner and Superintendent Kenney discussed park priorities for 2021 and beyond, including Department of the Interior projects that were made possible by the passage of Sen. Warner’s legislation, the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA).  During the meeting, Sen. Warner reiterated his commitment to seeing through the implementation of the GAOA and addressing the National Park Service’s maintenance backlog – an effort he has championed since 2017.

“America’s great outdoors are part of the heritage and beauty of our nation. But to preserve them, we need to quickly start tackling our parks’ deferred maintenance needs, which are only getting worse by the second,” said Sen. Warner. “I am committed to working with Superintendent Patrick Kenney to help protect, maintain, and preserve the public lands within his jurisdiction, particularly Shenandoah National Park, which will be receiving GAOA funds to help address a portion of the park’s nearly $90 million deferred maintenance backlog. While we may have cleared the hurdle of getting the GAOA passed and signed, our work is not done until this law is fully implemented and important repair and upkeep projects are tackled across the Commonwealth.”

On Monday at an outdoor and socially-distanced ceremony at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Sen. Warner was awarded the National Park Foundation’s Hero Award by Foundation President, Will Shafroth. The award commemorates Sen. Warner’s work in getting the GAOA signed into law.

The Great American Outdoors Act is a product of Sen. Warner’s more than three years effort to provide relief to national parks in Virginia, where the maintenance backlog currently sits at $1.1 billion dollars. At Shenandoah National Park, the current maintenance backlog sits at $88,765,195. At Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historic Park, the maintenance backlog sits at $823,242.

Superintendent Kenney, who was appointed superintendent of Shenandoah National Park on August 5, 2020, is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in zoology.  He began his NPS career in 1990 at Big Cypress National Preserve as a natural resource manager. He then served as superintendent of Cape Lookout National Seashore, where he improved access to the park by awarding a ferry service contract, establishing two gateways, and opening the Beaufort Visitor Information Center. He later served as deputy superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, where he managed the operations of 2.2 million acres, a staff of 800, and an annual budget of $35 million. He is also a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute – Leadership for Democratic Society and is a Project Management Institute certified Project Manager.

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WASHINGTON – As the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) independent vaccine review panel meets tomorrow to consider the emergency use authorization of an initial COVID-19 vaccine, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) led nine of his colleagues in urging Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield to ensure a fair and equitable vaccine distribution. The letter follows HHS Secretary Azar’s comments that states should decide who gets the first round of the federally approved COVID-19 vaccine, which could lead to a patchwork of varying distribution plans and affect vaccine access for minority and high-risk populations disproportionately impacted by the virus. Sen. Warner’s letter calls on federal health officials to provide more support to states so that they fully understand and appropriately implement expert guidelines ensuring equity. 

“We are writing to urge the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine by working closely with states to understand and appropriately implement COVID-19 vaccine distribution recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). As we approach potential emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration for one or more COVID-19 vaccines, it is essential that we do everything we can to ensure access to the vaccine for communities and populations hit hardest by the pandemic,” wrote the Senators to HHS Secretary Azar and CDC Director Redfield.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is a 15-member panel comprised of leading medical and public health experts with a focus on the fields of immunization practices and public health. The Advisory Committee reports to the CDC Director and is responsible for developing evidence-based public health recommendations for the safe and ethical use of vaccines. In the case of COVID-19, where initial supplies of a vaccine will be limited, ACIP will make recommendations to ensure the vaccine is equitably distributed. Historically, states and localities – in coordination with federal health authorities – use ACIP recommendations to develop their vaccination strategies. 

In their letter, the Senators also underscore how the COVID-19 crisis has continued to disproportionately affect older Americans, communities of color, and essential workers. Overrepresentation in front-line jobs, higher rates of chronic disease, inequitable access to health care, and longstanding bias within the health care system itself have all contributed to these disparities.

“As you know, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on millions of families and claimed the lives of more than 280,000 Americans to date. Older adults, essential workers and communities of color have been particularly hard hit by this virus. Individuals 85 and older are 630 times more likely to die from COVID-19, while Black and Latino Americans are more than twice as likely to become infected with COVID-19 and at a significantly higher risk of hospitalization and death compared to white Americans. Essential workers who cannot work from home also face high potential exposure to COVID-19 - particularly Americans living and working in long-term care facilities, prisons and other congregate care facilities. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are three times as likely to die of COVID-19 compared with others,” they continued.

In their letter, the Senators urge that HHS and CDC work closely with state and local officials to ensure they fully understand and implement ACIP’s recommendations in a manner that prioritizes public health, equity, and the wellbeing of vulnerable communities.

Sen. Warner was also joined on the letter by Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Angus King (I-ME), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).

Throughout this health crisis, Sen. Warner has pushed to make sure that we have the data needed to understand the scope of the crisis and its effect on diverse communities. He has previously introduced legislation to require HHS to collect and report racial and other demographic data on COVID-19 testing, treatment, and fatality rates, and provide a summary of the final statistics and a report to Congress within 60 days after the end of the public health emergency. In addition, Sen. Warner has joined his colleagues in urging pharmaceutical companies engaged in COVID-19-related work to prioritize diversity in any coronavirus vaccine or trial to ensure that new treatments work for all Americans.

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

Dear Secretary Azar and Director Redfield:

We are writing to urge the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine by working closely with states to understand and appropriately implement COVID-19 vaccine distribution recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). As we approach potential emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration for one or more COVID-19 vaccines, it is essential that we do everything we can to ensure access to the vaccine for communities and populations hit hardest by the pandemic.

As you know, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on millions of families and claimed the lives of more than 280,000 Americans to date. Older adults, essential workers and communities of color have been particularly hard hit by this virus. Individuals 85 and older are 630 times more likely to die from COVID-19, while Black and Latino Americans are more than twice as likely to become infected with COVID-19 and at a significantly higher risk of hospitalization and death compared to white Americans. Essential workers who cannot work from home also face high potential exposure to COVID-19 - particularly Americans living and working in long-term care facilities, prisons and other congregate care facilities. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are three times as likely to die of COVID-19 compared with others.

The CDC’s ACIP is comprised of leading medical and public health experts. The Advisory Committee is responsible for developing evidence-based public health recommendations for the safe and ethical use of vaccines. Additionally, in the case of COVID-19 – where initial supplies of a vaccine will be limited – ACIP will serve the critical role of making recommendations to ensure the vaccine is equitably distributed. ACIP’s recommendations will provide critical guidance to both the federal government and states regarding effectively targeting a COVID-19 vaccine, including to the most at-risk and in need populations. 

We ask that you work in coordination with federal, state and local partners to ensure they fully understand and implement ACIP’s recommendations in a manner that prioritizes public health, equity, and the most vulnerable communities. Should you have any additional questions regarding this request, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Co-Chair of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, released a statement today on the announcement by cybersecurity firm FireEye that it was the victim of hackers tied to a nation-state:

“The hack of a premier cybersecurity firm demonstrates that even the most sophisticated companies are vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

“I applaud FireEye for quickly going public with this news, and I hope the company’s decision to disclose this intrusion serves as an example to others facing similar intrusions.

“We have come to expect and demand that companies take real steps to secure their systems, but this case also shows the difficulty of stopping determined nation-state hackers. As we have with critical infrastructure, we have to rethink the kind of cyber assistance the government provides to American companies in key sectors on which we all rely.”

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Senator Brian Schatz and their congressional colleagues in calling for the expansion of access to telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic to be made permanent. Provisions from the CONNECT for Health Act, legislation introduced by Warner and cosponsored by Kaine, have allowed Medicare beneficiaries in all areas of the country, and in their homes, to utilize telehealth services, as well as more types of health care providers to provide telehealth, were included in previous COVID-19 legislation but will expire following the pandemic unless congressional leaders act to make those measures permanent.

“Telehealth has been a critical tool during the COVID-19 pandemic in ensuring that patients can continue to receive the health care services that they need while minimizing the spread of the virus and keeping health care providers and patients healthy and safe,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). “We continue to hear from our constituents and health care providers that the uncertainty about the long-term future of Medicare telehealth coverage is a barrier to organizations investing fully in telehealth. Congress needs to act now to better serve patients and health care providers during the pandemic, and to ensure that telehealth remains an option after the pandemic is over.”

In their letter, the lawmakers highlight the growing use and benefits of telehealth during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as patients seek to avoid traveling to hospitals and other providers and instead receive care at home. New data shows that the number of Medicare beneficiaries using telehealth services increased by nearly 13,000 percent in just a month and a half during the pandemic.

Senators Warner and Kaine have been longtime advocates for increased access to health care through telehealth. In June, Warner and Kaine sent a letter to Senate leadership calling for the permanent expansion of access to telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Kaine also introduced bipartisan legislation in 2019 to expand health care to rural areas through telehealth. The bill passed out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee as part of the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019.

The bipartisan and bicameral Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act, was first introduced in 2016.

The full text of the letter is below and available here.

Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, and Minority Leader McCarthy:

As we near the end of the year and the 116th Congress, we urge you to include provisions in end of the year legislation to make permanent expanded coverage of Medicare telehealth services. Specifically, immediate action to permanently waive geographic restrictions for originating sites, authorize health centers in rural and underserved areas to provide telehealth, and allow beneficiaries to use telehealth in their homes would be key steps to ensure much-needed certainty about Medicare telehealth coverage for health care providers and to improve access to care for patients.

Telehealth has been a critical tool during the COVID-19 pandemic in ensuring that patients can continue to receive the health care services that they need while minimizing the spread of the virus and keeping health care providers and patients healthy and safe.  Telehealth is also important in increasing capacity at health care facilities and reducing health care providers’ use of scarce personal protective equipment.  For these reasons, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance at the beginning of the pandemic advising individuals and health care providers to optimize the use of telehealth services.

The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act included provisions from our bipartisan CONNECT for Health Act to increase access to telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic.  As a result, waivers of statutory geographic and originating site restrictions have allowed Medicare beneficiaries to use telehealth services in all areas of the country, as well as in their homes.  In addition, more types of health care providers including health centers in rural and underserved areas, are authorized to provide distant site telehealth services, among other important flexibilities.  

This new authority resulted in a rapid increase in telehealth utilization.  An early analysis of the expansion of Medicare telehealth coverage during the pandemic shows that before the public health emergency, about 13,000 beneficiaries in fee-for-service Medicare received telehealth services in a week, but by the last week of April, nearly 1.7 million beneficiaries received telehealth services.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also found that beneficiaries are getting care through telehealth at similar rates across demographics.  In response to these findings, CMS stated that, “The rapid adoption of telemedicine among providers and patients has shown that telehealth is here to stay.”

However, the authority for this expanded coverage of Medicare telehealth services is temporary and tied to the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration, which is renewed in three-month increments.  We continue to hear from our constituents and health care providers that the uncertainty about the long-term future of Medicare telehealth coverage is a barrier to organizations investing fully in telehealth—even now during the pandemic.  Ramping up telehealth requires significant costs—including the purchase of equipment such as tablets and webcams, telehealth platforms, additional staff, provider training, and changes to electronic health records, billing, and patient engagement processes.  Without more certainty about the future of Medicare coverage, many organizations are not investing in all of these areas to optimize the use and availability of telehealth.

Therefore, Congress needs to act now to better serve patients and health care providers during the pandemic, and to ensure that telehealth remains an option after the pandemic is over.  We understand that further data analysis is underway to assess the impact of the telehealth changes that have been available during the public health emergency.  However, to fully benefit from telehealth during the pandemic, there are steps Congress should take before the end of the year to expand access to telehealth with appropriate guardrails and beneficiary protections.

In particular, Congress should immediately provide permanent authority to waive or remove the geographic restrictions on originating sites in section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act so that a beneficiary’s ability to receive telehealth services is no longer based on where he or she lives.  Services that CMS has determined to be clinically appropriate to be delivered through telehealth should be available to all beneficiaries, not just some.  CMS concurs, stating that “The data have shown that telehealth can be an important source of care across the country, not just for those living in rural areas.”

We also urge action to permanently authorize Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics to provide distant site telehealth services and to allow patients to receive clinically appropriate telehealth services in their homes.  These actions would address the restrictions on originating sites that CMS has stated are the greatest barriers to the expansion of Medicare telehealth services as well as ensure that health centers can continue their pivotal role in providing health care in rural and underserved areas.   

Telehealth is an area of strong bipartisan support, and Congress can, and should, act now to lead the way in ensuring expanded access to telehealth.  We appreciate your collaboration on this important issue.

Sincerely,

###

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today celebrated the reopening of the Arlington Memorial Bridge. The rehabilitation project, whose funding was personally championed by Sen. Warner in the Senate in 2016, will help provide a smoother and safer commute for Virginia and D.C. area residents after years of repairs, lane closures and weight restrictions. The nearly 90-year old Arlington Memorial Bridge, which is one of several transportation infrastructures operated by the National Park Service (NPS), had not undergone a major overhaul since first opening in 1932.  

“In 2015, we were warned that Memorial Bridge – a critical artery between Virginia and the nation’s capital – was literally falling apart,” said Sen. Warner. “Today’s reopening is a testament to years of work by the region’s congressional delegation, our local partners, and the National Park Service. Commuters can now rest easy knowing that this nearly 90-year-old landmark will carry them safely over the Potomac for years to come.”

In 2016, Sen. Warner first spearheaded a years-long effort to secure funding to rehabilitate Arlington Memorial Bridge after NPS revealed that without a $250 million rehabilitation, the bridge would not be safe for traffic by 2021.

In April 2016, Sen. Warner led several of his National Region Congressional colleagues in pushing for regional collaboration to submit a FASTLANE grant application for the Arlington Memorial Bridge Rehabilitation Project. The FASTLANE program was established as part of the bipartisan transportation bill passed by Congress in 2015, which included grant funding specifically set aside for “nationally significant freight and highway projects,” such as the Arlington Memorial Bridge. Sen. Warner successfully led a Virginia and D.C. delegation effort, with the support of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, to submit a FASTLANE grant application, along with NPS, that would support repairs for Arlington Memorial Bridge.

Then, in December 2017, the National Park Service announced it had secured full funding for the $227 million project of rehabilitating Arlington Memorial Bridge, including a $90 million FASTLANE grant attained by Sen. Warner. Additionally, Sen. Warner fought on the Senate floor to secure inclusion of an additional $30 million in the FY2017 appropriations bill for the project. The additional $30 million helped condense the project from two phases into one, saving taxpayers $35 million and shaving 18 months off construction time.

Sen. Warner’s legislation to tackle the $12 billion nationwide backlog of deferred NPS maintenance projects, The Great American Outdoors Act, was signed into law by President Trump earlier this year. In Virginia alone, NPS sites currently have $1.1 billion in deferred maintenance needs.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Senator Brian Schatz and their congressional colleagues in calling for the expansion of access to telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic to be made permanent. Provisions from the CONNECT for Health Act, legislation introduced by Warner and cosponsored by Kaine, have allowed Medicare beneficiaries in all areas of the country, and in their homes, to utilize telehealth services, as well as more types of health care providers to provide telehealth, were included in previous COVID-19 legislation but will expire following the pandemic unless congressional leaders act to make those measures permanent.

“Telehealth has been a critical tool during the COVID-19 pandemic in ensuring that patients can continue to receive the health care services that they need while minimizing the spread of the virus and keeping health care providers and patients healthy and safe,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). “We continue to hear from our constituents and health care providers that the uncertainty about the long-term future of Medicare telehealth coverage is a barrier to organizations investing fully in telehealth. Congress needs to act now to better serve patients and health care providers during the pandemic, and to ensure that telehealth remains an option after the pandemic is over.”

In their letter, the lawmakers highlight the growing use and benefits of telehealth during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as patients seek to avoid traveling to hospitals and other providers and instead receive care at home. New data shows that the number of Medicare beneficiaries using telehealth services increased by nearly 13,000 percent in just a month and a half during the pandemic.

Senators Warner and Kaine have been longtime advocates for increased access to health care through telehealth. In June, Warner and Kaine sent a letter to Senate leadership calling for the permanent expansion of access to telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Kaine also introduced bipartisan legislation in 2019 to expand health care to rural areas through telehealth. The bill passed out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee as part of the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019.

The bipartisan and bicameral Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act, was first introduced in 2016.

The full text of the letter is below and available here.

Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, and Minority Leader McCarthy:

As we near the end of the year and the 116th Congress, we urge you to include provisions in end of the year legislation to make permanent expanded coverage of Medicare telehealth services. Specifically, immediate action to permanently waive geographic restrictions for originating sites, authorize health centers in rural and underserved areas to provide telehealth, and allow beneficiaries to use telehealth in their homes would be key steps to ensure much-needed certainty about Medicare telehealth coverage for health care providers and to improve access to care for patients.

Telehealth has been a critical tool during the COVID-19 pandemic in ensuring that patients can continue to receive the health care services that they need while minimizing the spread of the virus and keeping health care providers and patients healthy and safe.  Telehealth is also important in increasing capacity at health care facilities and reducing health care providers’ use of scarce personal protective equipment.  For these reasons, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance at the beginning of the pandemic advising individuals and health care providers to optimize the use of telehealth services.

The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act included provisions from our bipartisan CONNECT for Health Act to increase access to telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic.  As a result, waivers of statutory geographic and originating site restrictions have allowed Medicare beneficiaries to use telehealth services in all areas of the country, as well as in their homes.  In addition, more types of health care providers including health centers in rural and underserved areas, are authorized to provide distant site telehealth services, among other important flexibilities.  

This new authority resulted in a rapid increase in telehealth utilization.  An early analysis of the expansion of Medicare telehealth coverage during the pandemic shows that before the public health emergency, about 13,000 beneficiaries in fee-for-service Medicare received telehealth services in a week, but by the last week of April, nearly 1.7 million beneficiaries received telehealth services.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also found that beneficiaries are getting care through telehealth at similar rates across demographics.  In response to these findings, CMS stated that, “The rapid adoption of telemedicine among providers and patients has shown that telehealth is here to stay.”

However, the authority for this expanded coverage of Medicare telehealth services is temporary and tied to the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration, which is renewed in three-month increments.  We continue to hear from our constituents and health care providers that the uncertainty about the long-term future of Medicare telehealth coverage is a barrier to organizations investing fully in telehealth—even now during the pandemic.  Ramping up telehealth requires significant costs—including the purchase of equipment such as tablets and webcams, telehealth platforms, additional staff, provider training, and changes to electronic health records, billing, and patient engagement processes.  Without more certainty about the future of Medicare coverage, many organizations are not investing in all of these areas to optimize the use and availability of telehealth.

Therefore, Congress needs to act now to better serve patients and health care providers during the pandemic, and to ensure that telehealth remains an option after the pandemic is over.  We understand that further data analysis is underway to assess the impact of the telehealth changes that have been available during the public health emergency.  However, to fully benefit from telehealth during the pandemic, there are steps Congress should take before the end of the year to expand access to telehealth with appropriate guardrails and beneficiary protections.

In particular, Congress should immediately provide permanent authority to waive or remove the geographic restrictions on originating sites in section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act so that a beneficiary’s ability to receive telehealth services is no longer based on where he or she lives.  Services that CMS has determined to be clinically appropriate to be delivered through telehealth should be available to all beneficiaries, not just some.  CMS concurs, stating that “The data have shown that telehealth can be an important source of care across the country, not just for those living in rural areas.”

We also urge action to permanently authorize Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics to provide distant site telehealth services and to allow patients to receive clinically appropriate telehealth services in their homes.  These actions would address the restrictions on originating sites that CMS has stated are the greatest barriers to the expansion of Medicare telehealth services as well as ensure that health centers can continue their pivotal role in providing health care in rural and underserved areas.   

Telehealth is an area of strong bipartisan support, and Congress can, and should, act now to lead the way in ensuring expanded access to telehealth.  We appreciate your collaboration on this important issue.

Sincerely,

###

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine celebrated Senate passage of three bills to rename United States Postal Service (USPS) facilities in Hopewell, Leesburg, and Midlothian after three Virginians who made significant contributions to both the Commonwealth and the nation: Reverend Curtis West Harris, Norman Duncan, and Dorothy Braden Bruce.

“The renaming of these post offices reflects long overdue gratitude for the work Reverend Harris, Mr. Duncan, and Mrs. Bruce accomplished throughout their lives,” the Senators said. “We’re glad to see our colleagues support these bills that recognize the significant contributions these Virginians made in civil rights, transportation, and our military. We look forward to seeing these post offices honor these individuals who worked hard to uplift and protect our communities.” 

The “Reverend Curtis West Harris Post Office Building” in Hopewell honors the life and legacy of Reverend Curtis West Harris, who long fought for racial justice and equity. Reverend Harris served as pastor of Hopewell’s Union Baptist Church for nearly fifty years, was the first African-American Mayor of Hopewell, and was also elected to serve in the Hopewell City Council from 1986 to 2012. He passed away in 2017 and was buried in Appomattox Cemetery, a site he first fought to integrate in 1960.

The “Norman Duncan Post Office Building” in Leesburg honors the life and legacy of Norman Duncan, a child of Jewish immigrants who was awarded the Legion of Honor for his service during World War II where he was promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant. After his service, Mr. Duncan worked in McLean as a transportation logistics specialist and advocate for minority participation in the transportation industry and was an active community member in Loudoun County. He volunteered his expertise on President Carter’s National Defense Executive Reserve and consulted on transportation logistics for President Reagan’s inaugural committee. He passed away in 2019, two months after attending the 75^th anniversary and commemoration of the D-Day landings in Normandy. 

The “Dorothy Braden Bruce Post Office Building” in Midlothian honors the life and legacy of Dorothy Braden Bruce, a Virginia native who served as a key codebreaker in a top-secret group with other women during World War II to help disclose locations of Japanese ships, disrupt enemy supply chains, and protect the lives of countless servicemembers. Despite Mrs. Bruce’s efforts contributing to Allied success, her role was kept secret for over 70 years while she continued to serve her community in Midlothian. She passed away in 2019 after finally being publicly recognized for her role as a codebreaker in 2017.

Senators Warner and Kaine have been strong supporters of the renaming efforts. They wrote to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Senate Committee that oversees the USPS, encouraging them to support the bills renaming the post offices afterReverend Harris, Mr. Duncan, and Mrs. Bruce. The bills were introduced by U.S. Representatives A. Donald McEachin (D-VA), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) respectively.

The bills designate the USPS facilities located at:

• 117 West Poythress Street in Hopewell, Virginia as the “Reverend Curtis West Harris Post Office Building”
• 15 East Market Street in Leesburg, Virginia as the “Norman Duncan Post Office Building”
• 1201 Sycamore Square Drive in Midlothian, Virginia as the “Dorothy Braden Bruce Post Office Building”

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, led 30 of their colleagues in urging Senate leaders to include in the next COVID-19 relief package an extension of two critical financial lifelines for Americans affected by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. 

Currently, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program – which provides unemployment assistance to domestic workers, freelance workers, contractors, and other workers in alternative work arrangements – and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program – which temporarily provides a 13-week extension of benefits for those whose regular unemployment benefits have expired but are still struggling to find employment during the pandemic – are set to expire on December 26th, just one day after Christmas. Unfortunately, these programs are as vital as ever right now, with the nation facing more than five times the number of COVID-19 cases as in the spring, and with more than twice the number of Americans participating in these programs as in the regular state unemployment system.

“As the virus surges going into the winter months, the loss of benefits at this time is particularly cruel. A recent report from The Century Foundation suggests that nearly 12 million workers could lose coverage once these programs expire over the holiday. In other words, roughly 12 million American workers will lose benefits this season for a job they lost through no fault of their own,” wrote the Senators in a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “For many, the knowledge of this benefits cliff will hang over them while they celebrate Christmas morning, share a meal for Christmas dinner, or observe other holidays with their families in the middle of what has already been a difficult and tragic year. Those who are socially distancing from their families for their safety as well as the nation’s overall public health will likely experience this loss of federal financial assistance entirely alone.” 

“What’s more, the loss of emergency benefits compounds the hardships many families are already facing in this economy. Since May, researchers have found that roughly 8 million Americans have slipped into poverty. That is the equivalent of the entire population of Virginia or Washington (as well as the combined populations of Kentucky and Oregon) falling into poverty over the span of a few months,” they continued. “Right now, one in six adults with children report that their household did not have enough to eat in the last seven days. For Black and Latino households, that figure is roughly one in five. Still worse, nearly 30% of households with children are not caught up with their rent payments. In other words, going into this holiday season, millions of additional American families are living below the poverty line, unable to provide sufficient food for their households and likely facing evictions from their home.”

In the letter, the Senators urged for these programs to be extended with additional weeks of eligibility for workers, noting that approximately 4.4 million workers will have already run out of benefits by the end of the year, with millions more exhausting their benefits next year. This includes workers in the service and arts sectors, among other industries who continue to struggle nearly nine months into the pandemic.

They also stressed the importance of significantly reforming the nation’s unemployment system in the near future so that every American can count on a social safety net during times of need.

Sens. Warner and Wyden were joined on this letter by Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Chris Coons (D-DE), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky  Rosen (D-NV), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bob Casey (D-PA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Angus King (I-ME).

From the start of this crisis, Sen. Warner, a former tech entrepreneur and longtime leader on labor issues affecting contractors and the contingent workforce, has pushed to expand benefits for Americans who have found themselves unemployed through no fault of their own. In March, Sen. Warner voted in favor of $2 trillion bipartisan legislation that, among other things, expanded access to unemployment benefits for gig workers, contractors and the self-employed. In the months following the signing of the legislation, Sen. Warner urged states to quickly implement federal provisions easing restrictions on emergency unemployment benefits, and called on the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue and clarify state guidance in order to ensure that workers were able to receive benefits. He also introduced legislation to help guarantee that Americans who earn a living through a mix of traditional (W-2) and independent employment income (1099) were able to fully access the financial relief made available under the PUA program. Sen. Warner is also the author of bipartisan legislation to establish a $500 million emergency portable benefits fund, which would assist states with setting up a portable benefits program for independent workers.

A copy of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Leader McConnell and Leader Schumer:

As the Senate considers the next coronavirus relief package, we urge you to include extensions of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program. We also urge you to include additional weeks of benefits for both programs. Right now, there are more than twice the number of Americans participating in these two programs combined as there are in the regular state unemployment system.[1] These workers are all facing job loss that has nothing to do with their skills, abilities, or performance.

Congress created these programs to patch up the holes in our social safety net during a global pandemic. Congress stood up the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program to disburse benefits to workers who would normally not be eligible for unemployment assistance for a variety of reasons. These workers include employees with insufficient earnings or work history to qualify, domestic workers, freelance workers, contractors, and other workers in alternative work arrangements. Similarly, recognizing that most regular state unemployment programs provide only 26 weeks of coverage for workers (with some states providing as few as 12 weeks), Congress also created the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program to provide an extension of unemployment benefits to the long-term unemployed who exhaust their regular unemployment benefits. Both of these programs are set to expire on December 26th, the day after Christmas.

As the virus surges going into the winter months, the loss of benefits at this time is particularly cruel. A recent report from The Century Foundation suggests that nearly 12 million workers could lose coverage once these programs expire over the holiday.[2] In other words, roughly 12 million American workers will lose benefits this season for a job they lost through no fault of their own. For many, the knowledge of this benefits cliff will hang over them while they celebrate Christmas morning, share a meal for Christmas dinner, or observe other holidays with their families in the middle of what has already been a difficult and tragic year. Those who are socially distancing from their families for their safety as well as the nation’s overall public health will likely experience this loss of federal financial assistance entirely alone.

What’s more, the loss of emergency benefits compounds the hardships many families are already facing in this economy. Since May, researchers have found that roughly 8 million Americans have slipped into poverty.[3] That is the equivalent of the entire population of Virginia or Washington (as well as the combined populations of Kentucky and Oregon) falling into poverty over the span of a few months. Right now, one in six adults with children report that their household did not have enough to eat in the last seven days.[4] For Black and Latino households, that figure is roughly one in five.[5] Still worse, nearly 30% of households with children are not caught up with their rent payments.[6] In other words, going into this holiday season, millions of additional American families are living below the poverty line, unable to provide sufficient food for their households and likely facing evictions from their home.

To address the economic hardships workers are facing during this time, these programs should be extended with additional weeks of eligibility for workers. Around 4.4 million workers will have already run out of benefits by the end of the year, regardless of their surrounding economic situation, and millions more will exhaust them next year if Congress does not add additional weeks of eligibility to both programs. We know that this virus has hit certain industries and sectors harder than others, particularly in the service sector and in the arts. Many workers need additional weeks of eligibility in these programs because demand for their services or industry has cratered during the pandemic.

We know that it was the bipartisan intention of these emergency unemployment programs to provide all workers access to a safety net during this crisis, regardless of their worker classification status. Even the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Eugene Scalia, acknowledged in a Senate Finance Committee hearing on June 9th that these are important programs. On PUA, he noted that workers were “given financial support through the unemployment insurance benefit they received, which was a very good benefit for a closing economy.”[7] Today, with more than 20 million Americans claiming unemployment insurance benefits in all of the programs offered,[8] we are still in the middle of an unemployment crisis. In fact, the pandemic was the main impetus for the creation of these programs in March and, right now, we are averaging over five times the number of COVID-19 cases we had in the spring. It is clear that these programs are important lifelines for workers during this crisis and need to be extended with additional weeks of eligibility.

Moving forward beyond this crisis, we will need to prioritize a dramatic update and reform to our unemployment system. Congress created the PUA and PEUC programs with the knowledge that our regular unemployment program is part of a patchwork system of worker benefits, inadequate for covering a nation facing an emergency public health crisis. The patchwork nature of American benefits does not disappear at the end of this crisis. With more than twice the number of workers presently participating in programs that did not exist before the passage of the CARES Act compared to regular programs, we will need to prioritize reforming our social safety net so that every American can gain access to a support system during times of need. Our social safety net should not require an Act of Congress to serve the American public well in the face of a disaster.

We appreciate your past support for the provisions in the CARES Act that created these programs to begin with and which intended for all workers to access a basic safety net. We owe the American public the peace of mind this holiday season that Congress will continue to support them during this crisis.

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON – As bipartisan negotiations continue on the final FY21 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released a statement following President Trump’s threat to veto the annual defense bill over a provision requiring the military to rename bases named for Confederate military leaders.

“Ongoing reports that President Trump is holding up negotiations on our annual defense bill because of his objections to the renaming of Confederate bases is frankly absurd and downright dangerous. The defense bill is critical to U.S. national security, authorizing millions for military construction projects, shipbuilding, technology and innovation investments, a pay raise for our servicemembers and many other critical defense priorities. Delays in its passage undermine mission readiness and stability for our servicemembers as they tackle our national security challenges.

“This annual defense bill provides much-needed stability for Virginia's critical national security footprint. In addition to the Pentagon, Virginia hosts major headquarters for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard and is home to the largest naval base in the world – Naval Station Norfolk. Defense-related spending is also critical to Virginia's economy. In fact, Virginia ranks first in the country in DoD contracts as a percentage of the state economy and second in terms of number of DoD and Coast Guard personnel. In the midst of a presidential transition, a global pandemic and growing global threats, the President should not be playing politics with our defense bill. The stakes are just too high.”

Last week, Sen. Warner, Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, applauded the inclusion of his Improving Laundering Laws and Increasing Comprehensive Information Tracking of Criminal Activity in Shell Holdings (ILLICIT CASH) Act in this year’s defense bill. The bipartisan ILLICIT CASH Act seeks to improve corporate transparency, strengthen national security, and help law enforcement combat illicit financial activity being carried out by terrorists, drug and human traffickers, and other criminals. Additional Warner-led amendments are also being considered in the final defense bill.

Sen. Warner is a cosponsor of the Confederate Monument Removal Act, which would remove statues of individuals who voluntarily served the Confederate States of America from display in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. He has also spoken publicly about the need to remove public symbols honoring the Confederacy as part of broader efforts to advance racial justice.

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) pushed the Treasury Department to extend a critical deadline in order to ensure that localities across Virginia don’t lose out on essential funds needed to provide critical services to Americans, including making broadband more accessible during this public health crisis. The funding, which is set to expire on December 30, 2020, was authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act supported by Sen. Warner.

“Households across the country continue to struggle to make it through this public health emergency without access to broadband. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of broadband in accessing essential services, with an unprecedented number of Americans now reliant on internet connectivity to access public benefits, search for employment, learn and work from home, and access telehealth services,” wrote Sen. Warner. “Lack of broadband access has prevented Americans in underserved communities from meaningfully participating in the digital economy even before the pandemic, and under current circumstances, this lack of access threatens to have a significant and potentially long-lasting impact on existing economic, health, and educational disparities.”

Through the CARES Act, Congress appropriated $150 billion in funding for the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), which awarded federal dollars to states and localities to help to cover pandemic-related expenses for which local governments did not originally budget. However, unclear guidance by the Treasury Department has stalled localities in their efforts to distribute some of these funds by the allocation deadline, which requires localities to obligate all their funds by December 30th. 

“While localities are working hard to obligate their CRF allocations before the December 30, 2020 deadline, I  have heard directly from local leaders across Virginia that unclear guidance on the allowed uses of the funding has delayed the obligation of funds to broadband projects. As a result, localities need more time to obligate this vital funding to communities that still lack reliable access to broadband,” Sen. Warner continued. “To expand the reach of CARES funding and enable more households to get connected through these projects, I respectfully request the Department of the Treasury to extend the December 30, 2020 deadline by which states and localities must obligate CARES funding.” 

In the letter, Sen. Warner also requested that the Treasury Department publish updated guidance making clear that states and localities can use this funding for broadband projects as long as project plans are finalized by the CARES Act deadline, making clear that states and localities can commence and continue projects if their plans have been finalized prior to the deadline.

Sen. Warner has long fought for increased access to broadband in the Commonwealth during his tenure as Governor and now in the Senate. In March, Sen. Warner led 17 of his colleagues in urging major internet service providers to take steps to accommodate the incoming unprecedented reliance on telepresence services. After this effort, a number of major internet service providers announced the adoption of practices to better accommodate the use of remote technologies. Earlier this year, Sen. Warner also introduced legislation to help ensure adequate home internet connectivity for K-12 students during COVID-19. He has also pushed the FCC to ensure that millions of Americans are made aware of their eligibility for the FCC’s Lifeline program – the primary federal program charged with helping low-income families obtain broadband and telephone services.

Text of the letter can be found below and a copy is available here.

The Honorable Steven T. Mnuchin

Secretary

U.S. Department of the Treasury

1500 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington, D.C. 20220 

Dear Secretary Mnuchin,  

Households across the country continue to struggle to make it through this public health emergency without access to broadband. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of broadband in accessing essential services, with an unprecedented number of Americans now reliant on internet connectivity to access public benefits, search for employment, learn and work from home, and access telehealth services. Lack of broadband access has prevented Americans in underserved communities from meaningfully participating in the digital economy even before the pandemic, and under current circumstances, this lack of access threatens to have a significant and potentially long-lasting impact on existing economic, health, and educational disparities. 

The CARES Act provided $150 billion in funding for the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), which serves as a critical lifeline for states and localities that are navigating the challenges of COVID-19. Many CRF recipients are using this funding to expand access to telehealth services, distance learning, and telework by deploying broadband in underserved areas. While localities are working hard to obligate their CRF allocations before the December 30, 2020 deadline, I have heard directly from local leaders across Virginia that unclear guidance on the allowed uses of the funding has delayed the obligation of funds to broadband projects. As a result, localities need more time to obligate this vital funding to communities that still lack reliable access to broadband.

To expand the reach of CARES funding and enable more households to get connected through these projects, I respectfully request the Department of the Treasury to extend the December 30, 2020 deadline by which states and localities must obligate CARES funding. I also request that you publish updated guidance that clarifies that states and localities are able to use CARES funding for broadband projects, even where the projects won’t be completed by, or even begun building by, the CARES Act deadline so long as they’ve finalized a project plan by that time.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely, 

Mark R. Warner

U.S. Senator

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