WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced $1,914,251 in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the Free Clinic of the New River Valley in Christiansburg. This funding will allow the clinic to provide quality health care and dental services to individuals who cannot afford care or lack insurance.

“We’re pleased to announce federal funding to ensure the Free Clinic of the New River Valley can continue to offer valuable care to the community,” the Senators said. “The clinic helps ensure that uninsured and low-income patients can access the medical, dental, and preventative health services they need.”

This funding was awarded through HHS’s Health Resources & Services Administration Health Center Cluster Program. More than 27 million people in the U.S. rely on HRSA-funded health centers for affordable primary health care.

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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) in a letter urging the Administration to stabilize the Medicare Advantage program that provides quality health care to 21 million seniors and individuals with disabilities. The senators wrote to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma requesting she consider how to strengthen the program, innovate with technology and ensure predictability for enrollees. 

“Millions of our constituents depend on Medicare Advantage for quality, patient-centered health care,” the senators wrote. “Beneficiary enthusiasm for the program remains strong, with more than one in three seniors enrolled…For plan year 2020, we encourage the Administration to implement policies that promote innovation, provide predictable funding to support long-term, value-based arrangements and ensure that any substantive changes include sufficient time for thorough evaluation and stakeholder engagement.” 

In addition to Senators Cortez Masto and Mike Crapo, Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Jeffrey Merkley (D-Ore.), Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Angus King (I-Maine), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), John Hoeven (RN.D.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Joe Manchin (DW.Va.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Thomas Carper (D-Del.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Bill Cassidy (R-La), Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), John Thune (RS.D.), Shelley Capito (RW.Va.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Lindsey Graham (RS.C.), Tim Scott (RS.C.), Michael Rounds (RS.D.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Richard Burr (RN.C.), Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), Tom Udall (DN.M.), Martin Heinrich (DN.M.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Kevin Cramer (RN.D.) also signed onto the letter. 

The full text of the letter is available HERE and below:

Dear Administrator Verma:

We write to express our strong support for Medicare Advantage and the high-quality care it provides to more than 21 million seniors and individuals with disabilities. We appreciate the Administration’s recognition of the value of Medicare Advantage and its work to encourage innovation for these private health plans. As annual updates are considered for 2020, we ask you to continue to strengthen and grow this proven part of the Medicare program by proposing policies that provide stability and predictability.

Millions of our constituents depend on Medicare Advantage for quality, patient-centered health care. Beneficiary enthusiasm for the program remains strong, with more than one in three seniors enrolled. This is due, in part, to private plans’ ability to leverage best practices in care delivery, use robust data analytics, and implement proven value-based care and care management models. Medicare Advantage enrollees report a 91 percent satisfaction rate, with 74 percent of enrollees in plans rated four Stars and above.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced average Medicare Advantage premiums are estimated to decrease by six percent in 2019. Meanwhile, beneficiary enrollment has increased by eight percent in the past year and 79 percent since 2010, a testament to the affordability, high-quality care coordination, disease management and community-based programs, and supplemental benefits such as vision and dental coverage provided by Medicare Advantage plans. Further, bipartisan efforts are helping to reduce beneficiary costs by increasing the use of telemedicine, promoting value-based insurance design, and expanding benefits that address social determinants of health by including transportation, nutrition, and other non-medical needs that enhance quality of life.

For plan year 2020, we encourage the Administration to implement policies that promote innovation, provide predictable funding to support long-term, value-based arrangements, and ensure that any substantive changes include sufficient time for thorough evaluation and stakeholder engagement.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced $1,262,495 million in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the University of Virginia. The funding will be used to conduct medical research regarding heart disease, neurological disorders, and identifying pathways for infections. 

“We’re excited to announce funding to support medical research in these important fields,” the Senators said. “The University of Virginia is a leader in the medical community and these funds can ensure its research departments have the resources they need to conduct thorough, life-saving work.”

The following programs will receive funding:

• Heart and Vascular Diseases Research will receive $782,464.
• Clinical Research Related to Neurological Disorders will receive $399,281.
• Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation Research will receive $80,750.

The funds were awarded through HHS’s National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest funder of biomedical research in the world. NIH-funded research has led to breakthroughs in new treatments, expanding life spans, and building healthier lives. 

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement on President Trump's State of the Union address: 

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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), the Chairman of the Aging Committee, and Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced the SIMPLE Plan Modernization Act to provide greater flexibility and access to small businesses and their employees seeking to utilize the popular SIMPLE plans as an option for saving for retirement.   

“Financial advisors from Presque Isle to Portland have shared their concerns that neither employees nor their employers are in a good position to save for retirement,” said Senator Collins.  “The SIMPLE Plan Modernization Act is a win-win proposition for retirement security, encouraging small business owners and their employees to take steps to save for retirement.”

“The changing nature of work has made it more challenging for many Americans to plan for their retirement,” said Senator Warner.“This commonsense legislation will make it easier for small businesses to support their workforce in saving for retirement.”

Congress established SIMPLE (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees) retirement plans in the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 to encourage small businesses to provide their employees with retirement plans.  Retirement plans among small employers continue to be scarcer than among medium and large employers.  While these smaller businesses have access to tax-favored retirement savings plans (including traditional 401(k)s), those plans are more expensive to administer. 

Businesses with 100 or fewer employees may currently create SIMPLE retirement savings accounts for their employees, so long as the employers do not have another employer-sponsored retirement plan.

The proposed legislation would increase the contribution limit for SIMPLE plans.  Increasing the limit would achieve two basic goals: 1) Encourage more small business employers to offer a retirement savings benefit to their employees and 2) Allow small business employees to save even more each year on a tax-deferred basis.

The SIMPLE Plan Modernization Act would:

1. Raise the contribution limit for SIMPLE plans from $12,500 to $16,000 (halfway between current SIMPLE plans and traditional 401(k)s) for the smallest businesses (1 to 25 employees), with a corresponding increase in the catch-up limit from $3,000 to $4,500.

2. Give businesses with 26 to 100 employees the option of the higher contribution limits, and, in order to continue to encourage them to transition to 401(k)s when they can do so, increase their SIMPLE plan mandatory employer contribution requirements by one percentage point if they elect the higher limits.   

3. Allow for a reasonable transition period for employers that grow beyond 25 employees.

4. Make the limit increases unavailable if the employer has had another defined contribution plan within the past three years (to encourage businesses that already have qualified plans to retain them).

5. Modernize SIMPLE plan form filing requirements and modify the transition rules from SIMPLE plans to traditional plans to facilitate and encourage such transitions. 

6. Direct Treasury to study the use of SIMPLE plans and report to Congress on such use, along with any recommendations.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine released the following statement after the Navy and Huntington Ingalls Industries announced a final contract to block buy two Ford-class aircraft carriers:

“A big congratulations is due to the Navy and Huntington Ingalls Industries for finalizing a deal that will save 4 billion in taxpayer dollars and help keep the country safe,” Senators Warner and Kaine said. “Virginia’s shipbuilders make the finest carriers in the world, and we have long pushed the Navy to make this smart investment by block buying the newest class of ships. We are also glad that this move will help provide stability for the Hampton Roads defense community, ensuring that the shipyards can maintain the workforce they will need to help us reach the Navy’s goal of a 355-ship fleet.”   

Warner and Kaine have long supported the block buying of aircraft carriers. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kaine championed language that was included in the annual defense bill to allow for a block buy. Warner and Kaine both supported this effort in funding bills and discussed the benefits with military leadership.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, reintroduced legislation to modernize our antiquated security clearance system, reduce the background investigation backlog and ensure the government has the trusted workforce necessary to perform its national security and public safety missions. Last year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) added the government-wide Personnel Security Clearance Process to their High-Risk List of federal areas in need of broad-based transformation or specific reform to prevent waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement.  This legislation was first introduced in December 2018 and draws on provisions from the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018/2019, which was unanimously reported out of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in June 2018. 

Sen. Warner also wrote to acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Director of National Intelligence Coats and other key officials, to reiterate his call for urgent and aggressive implementation of needed reforms. 

“The current vetting process for security clearances and positions of trust is too complicated, takes too long, costs too much, and fails to capitalize on modern technology and processes,” wrote Sen. Warner. “We are taking too many security risks and losing talented people who are not willing to endure a years-long process. Our current system is broken and needs a revolution.” 

“In order to achieve our shared objectives, we must avoid politicizing and delaying reform efforts,” he continued. “We must act now, especially amidst allegations of inappropriate granting and revoking of clearances and anxieties caused by the government shutdown.”

The Modernizing the Trusted Workforce for the 21st Century Act would:

• Hold the Executive Branch accountable for addressing the immediate background investigation backlog crisis.
• Provide a plan for consolidating the National Background Investigation Bureau at the Department of Defense.
• Implement practical reforms so that policies and clearance timelines can be designed to reflect modern circumstances. 
• Require that reforms be implemented equally for all departments, and for personnel requiring a clearance, regardless of whether they are employed by the government or industry.
• Strengthen oversight of the personnel vetting apparatus by codifying the Director of National Intelligence’s responsibilities as the Security Executive Agent.
• Promote innovation, including by analyzing how a determination of trust clearance can be tied to a person, not to an agency’s sponsorship. 

“PSC and the contractor community owe Vice Chairman Warner thanks for his tenacious and persistent focus on modernizing and streamlining the federal government’s security clearance processes,” said David J. Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council. “Excessive backlogs and wait times add risk to government missions, contract performance, and the ability of both the government and contractors to recruit and hire the talent we need. Enactment of the Modernizing the Trusted Workforce for the 21st Century Act will reduce these negative impacts while maintaining integrity in the system and better protecting our national security.”

“We deeply appreciate Senator Warner’s leadership on critical security clearance reform. For our members to attract and retain technology talent, we must seriously reduce the clearance cycle time. This is crucial for our ability to serve the nation effectively,”said Bobbie Kilberg, CEO of the Northern Virginia Technology Council.  

“While the security clearance backlog is slowly getting smaller, we need urgent steps to ensure the U.S. government and U.S. companies doing critical national security work can recruit, hire, and retain talented individuals to work on classified programs. AIA supports the Modernizing the Trusted Workforce for the 21st Century Act of 2018 as a positive step towards resolving the security clearance backlog and positioning us to employ the workforce essential to ensuring our security into the future," said Eric Fanning, President and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. 

Sen. Warner has been a strong voice on security clearance reform, urging the White House to prioritize reforms to the clearance process. 

During the recent partial government shutdown, Sen. Warner wrote to the Administration to ensure that federal employees did not have their security clearances jeopardized through no fault of their own, due to their loss of pay.

For more information on this legislation, click here. 

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

January 31, 2019

The Honorable Mick Mulvaney

Acting White House Chief of Staff

The White House

Washington, DC  20503

The Honorable Margaret Weichert

Deputy Director of the Office of Management & Budget,

Acting Director, Office of Personnel Management

Chair, Performance Accountability Council

The White House

Washington, DC 20503

The Honorable Daniel Coats

Director of National Intelligence

Washington, DC 20511

The Honorable Joseph Kernan

Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence

5000 Defense Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301-5000

Dear Mr. Mulvaney, Ms. Weichert, Mr. Coats, and Mr. Kernan:

I write you to reiterate my March 13 and September 25, 2018, letters to then-chief of staff John F. Kelly, calling for urgent and aggressive implementation of reforms to the government’s antiquated process for ensuring we have a trusted government and contract workforce.

The current vetting process for security clearances and positions of trust is too complicated, takes too long, costs too much, and fails to capitalize on modern technology and processes.  We are taking too many security risks and losing talented people who are not willing to endure a years-long process.  Our current system is broken and needs a revolution.  In order to achieve our shared objectives, we must avoid politicizing and delaying reform efforts.  We must act now, especially amidst allegations of inappropriate granting and revoking of clearances and anxieties caused by the government shutdown.

A new vetting paradigm should be built on a few basic principles, delineated in a bill I introduced last year and am reintroducing in the 116^th Congress, S. 3724, Modernizing the Trusted Workforce for the 21st Century Act of 2018.

·         Accountability: requiring plans for reducing the background investigation inventory to a steady state of roughly 200,000 from its high point of 725,000 in April 2018; consolidating the National Background Investigation Bureau (NBIB) in the Department of Defense; and maintaining transparency in the costs of background investigations; and ensuring reciprocity. 

·         Reform: rethinking the current suite of investigative methods; adopting consistent and clear policy for interim clearances, uniform treatment of government and contract personnel, and use of automated records checks; setting bold design goals to process applications for SECRET clearances in 30 days and TOP SECRET clearances in 90 days; and ensuring prompt reciprocity. 

·         Oversight: codifying the roles and responsibilities of the DNI as the government’s Security Executive Agent in statute.  

·         Innovation: employing a process that reflects current threats, a mobile workforce, and modern technologies; reduces the complexity of a five-tier system; enables sharing of derogatory information between and among government agencies and contractors; and reexamines which positions even need a clearance.

The good news is that I believe the executive branch is contemplating many of these reforms.  An executive order to consolidate NBIB at the Department of Defense has been under consideration for many months.  The Performance Accountability Council is poised to implement a Trusted Workforce 2.0 initiative with a comprehensive policy and process framework, but that first requires White House endorsement. 

I urge you to act swiftly and aggressively to push forward these much needed reforms.

I stand ready to help provide legislative and oversight leadership an effective, efficient, accountable, and fair process to ensure we have a trusted workforce.

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, raising concerns about reports indicating efforts by the company to monitor users’ device activity without fully disclosing Facebook’s involvement or the purposes of the data-gathering.

On January 29, the online outlet TechCrunch reported that under the auspices of partnerships with beta-testing firms, Facebook secretly paid users aged 13 to 35 to sell their privacy by installing  a “Facebook Research” VPN that lets the company suck in users’ phone and web activity. Earlier reporting from the Wall Street Journal had previously revealed the existence of a similar surveillance app that Facebook utilized to track user activity and neutralize potential competitors.

“In both the case of Onavo and the Facebook Research project, I have concerns that users were not appropriately informed about the extent of Facebook’s data-gathering and the commercial purposes of this data collection. Facebook’s apparent lack of full transparency with users – particularly in the context of ‘research’ efforts – has been a source of frustration for me,” Warner told Zuckerberg.

He added, “In large part for this reason, I am working on legislation to require individualized, informed consent in all instances of behavioral and market research conducted by large platforms on users. Fair, robust competition serves as an impetus for innovation, product differentiation, and wider consumer choice.”

Sen. Warner posed a series of questions for Zuckerberg regarding the company’s decision to track user data, including:

• Do you think any user reasonably understood that they were giving Facebook root device access through the enterprise certificate? What specific steps did you take to ensure that users were properly informed of this access? 
• Do you think any user reasonably understood that Facebook was using this data for commercial purposes, including to track competitors?
• Will you release all participants from the confidentiality agreements Facebook made them sign?
• As you know, I have begun working on legislation that would require large platforms such as Facebook to provide users, on a continual basis, with an estimate of the overall value of their data to the service provider. In this instance, Facebook seems to have developed valuations for at least some uses of the data that was collected (such as market research). This further emphasizes the need for users to understand fully what data is collected by Facebook, the full range of ways in which it is used, and how much it is worth to the company. Will you commit to supporting this legislation and exploring methods for valuing user data holistically?
• Will you commit to supporting legislation requiring individualized, informed consent in all instances of behavioral and market research conducted by large platforms on users?

Last year, Sen. Warner called on the social media companies to work with Congress and provide feedback on ideas he put forward in a white paper discussing potential policy solutions to challenges surrounding social media, privacy, and data security. He plans to introduce legislation in early 2019.

The text of the letter appears below. A copy of the letter is also available here.

Mark Zuckerberg
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Facebook, Inc.
1 Hacker Way
Menlo Park, CA 94025

Dear Mr. Zuckerberg:

I write to express concerns about allegations of Facebook’s latest efforts to monitor user activity. On January 29th, TechCrunch revealed that under the auspices of partnerships with beta testing firms, Facebook had begun paying users aged 13 to 35 to install an enterprise certificate, allowing Facebook to intercept all internet traffic to and from user devices.  According to subsequent reporting by TechCrunch, Facebook relied on intermediaries that often “did not disclose Facebook’s involvement until users had begun the signup process.” Moreover, the advertisements used to recruit participants and the “Project Disclosure” make no mention of Facebook or the commercial purposes to which this data was allegedly put.

This arrangement comes in the wake of revelations that Facebook had previously engaged in similar efforts through a virtual private network (VPN) app, Onavo, that it owned and operated. According to a series of articles by the Wall Street Journal, Facebook used Onavo to scout emerging competitors by monitoring user activity – acquiring competitors in order to neutralize them as competitive threats, and in cases when that did not work, monitor usage patterns to inform Facebook’s own efforts to copy the features and innovations driving adoption of competitors’ apps.  In 2017, my staff contacted Facebook with questions about how Facebook was promoting Onavo through its Facebook app – in particular, framing the app as a VPN that would “protect” users while omitting any reference to the main purpose of the app: allowing Facebook to gather market data on competitors.

Revelations in 2017 and 2018 prompted Apple to remove Onavo from its App Store in 2018 after concluding that the app violated its terms of service prohibitions on monitoring activity of other apps on a user’s device, as well as a requirement to make clear what user data will be collected and how it will be used. In both the case of Onavo and the Facebook Research project, I have concerns that users were not appropriately informed about the extent of Facebook’s data-gathering and the commercial purposes of this data collection.

Facebook’s apparent lack of full transparency with users – particularly in the context of ‘research’ efforts – has been a source of frustration for me. As you recall, I wrote the Federal Trade Commission in 2014 in the wake of revelations that Facebook had undertaken a behavioral experiment on hundreds of thousands of users, without obtaining their informed consent. In submitted questions to your Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, I once again raised these concerns, asking if Facebook provided for “individualized, informed consent” in all research projects with human subjects – and whether users had the ability to opt out of such research. In response, we learned that Facebook does not rely on individualized, informed consent (noting that users consent under the terms of the general Data Policy) and that users have no opportunity to opt out of being enrolled in research studies of their activity.  In large part for this reason, I am working on legislation to require individualized, informed consent in all instances of behavioral and market research conducted by large platforms on users. 

Fair, robust competition serves as an impetus for innovation, product differentiation, and wider consumer choice. For these reasons, I request that you respond to the following questions:

1.  Do you think any user reasonably understood that they were giving Facebook root device access through the enterprise certificate? What specific steps did you take to ensure that users were properly informed of this access? 
2. Do you think any user reasonably understood that Facebook was using this data for commercial purposes, including to track competitors?
3. Will you release all participants from the confidentiality agreements Facebook made them sign?
4. As you know, I have begun working on legislation that would require large platforms such as Facebook to provide users, on a continual basis, with an estimate of the overall value of their data to the service provider. In this instance, Facebook seems to have developed valuations for at least some uses of the data that was collected (such as market research). This further emphasizes the need for users to understand fully what data is collected by Facebook, the full range of ways in which it is used, and how much it is worth to the company. Will you commit to supporting this legislation and exploring methods for valuing user data holistically?
5. Will you commit to supporting legislation requiring individualized, informed consent in all instances of behavioral and market research conducted by large platforms on users?

I look forward to receiving your responses within the next two weeks. If you should have any questions or concerns, please contact my office at 202-224-2023.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, 10 years after the week President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Senator Patty Murray to reintroduce the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation that would strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and guarantee that women can challenge pay discrimination and hold employers accountable. According to the National Women’s Law Center, today’s wage gap in Virginia would cost a woman on average $482,000 over a 40-year career, when compared to a man.

“More than half a century ago, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act to ensure that women in Virginia and across the country aren’t paid less than men for doing the same work. Unfortunately in 2019, the fight for equal pay isn’t over,” Warner said. “This bill will help drive wages up for women and combat discriminatory practices that have held women back from climbing the career and economic ladder.”

“This should be obvious: Women deserve equal pay. Yet women are still only paid 80 cents for every dollar paid to men, and the disparity is even worse for women of color. This is not just a ‘women’s issue’; it’s a family and economic issue. I’m proud to cosponsor the Paycheck Fairness Act because we must close the gender pay gap and end pay discrimination. I hope Congress will pass this commonsense bill to help families succeed,” Kaine said. 

The Paycheck Fairness Act would strengthen and close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by holding employers accountable for discriminatory practices, ending the practice of pay secrecy, easing workers’ ability to individually or jointly challenge pay discrimination, and strengthening the available remedies for wronged employees. The Senate legislation has 45 cosponsors.

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance, requested ongoing briefings from the Trump Administration regarding the deal it reached to remove sanctions on several companies owned by the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Sen. Warner wrote, “I write today to express my concern that the agreement the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) reached with Oleg Deripaska does not remove Deripaska’s ability to control EN+, Rusal, and EuroSibEnergo, and I ask that you timely provide the Senate Intelligence Committee with the same information OFAC requests or receives under the agreement and the results of any audits performed at OFAC’s request under the agreement so that Congress can continue its ongoing oversight of the sanctions imposed on Deripaska and his companies.” 

On Sunday, the Trump Administration formally lifted sanctions on the three firms linked to Deripaska, including a company that is the world’s second-largest aluminum producer.

Added Sen. Warner, “I am deeply concerned by the reports that there were details of the agreement not disclosed in your December 19, 2018 letter to Majority Leader McConnell regarding the agreement with Deripaska. The additional information strengthens my conviction that Deripaska will continue to exert control over EN+, Rusal, and EuroSibEnergo. Based on those reports and the letter, I understand that Deripaska’s equity stake in EN+ will decrease to 44.95 percent.  But when combined with the holdings of the family and close associates of Deripaska—including his personal foundation, his ex-wife, her father, and a firm with links to her family—means that Mr. Deripaska will continue to be closely associated with nearly 57 percent of the equity of EN+ after the restructurings contemplated by the agreement.” 

Earlier this month, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 57-42 in favor of a resolution that would stop the lifting of sanctions – short of the 60 votes needed to move the resolution forward. The House of Representatives approved the resolution 362-53, with a majority of members from both parties voting in favor of retaining the sanctions.

“Bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate signaled their concern with this agreement. These recent reports strengthen my determination that the agreement Treasury has struck with Deripaska needs to be overseen strictly not only by OFAC but also by Congress,” Sen. Warner added. “Your letter describes the ongoing auditing, certification and reporting and other information rights that OFAC will receive with respect to these companies under the agreement. I ask that you provide the Senate Intelligence Committee with the same information OFAC requests or receives regarding the companies and the results of any audits performed at OFAC’s request under the agreement so that Congress can continue its ongoing oversight of the sanctions imposed on Deripaska and his companies.” 

The full text of the letter appears below. A copy of the letter is available here.

Dear Secretary Mnuchin,

I write today to express my concern that the agreement the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) reached with Oleg Deripaska does not remove Deripaska’s ability to control EN+, Rusal, and EuroSibEnergo, and I ask that you timely provide the Senate Intelligence Committee with the same information OFAC requests or receives under the agreement and the results of any audits performed at OFAC’s request under the agreement so that Congress can continue its ongoing oversight of the sanctions imposed on Deripaska and his companies.

I am deeply concerned by the reports that there were details of the agreement not disclosed in your December 19, 2018 letter to Majority Leader McConnell regarding the agreement with Deripaska.  The additional information strengthens my conviction that Deripaska will continue to exert control over EN+, Rusal, and EuroSibEnergo.  Based on those reports and the letter, I understand that Deripaska’s equity stake in EN+ will decrease to 44.95 percent.  But when combined with the holdings of the family and close associates of Deripaska—including his personal foundation, his ex-wife, her father, and a firm with links to her family—means that Mr. Deripaska will continue to be closely associated with nearly 57 percent of the equity of EN+ after the restructurings contemplated by the agreement.  You stated in your letter that Mr. Deripaska himself will not be permitted to vote more than 35 percent of his EN+ shares.  And you also implied that the votes of these individuals close to Deripaska will be assigned to an independent third party.  Nevertheless, the combination of a nearly 57 percent equity stake and the ability to vote 35 percent of EN+ shares suggests that Deripaska and his close associates will continue to have the largest stake—by far—in EN+.  

This nearly 57 percent stake alone is sufficient to determine that Deripaska will continue to have the ability to control EN+, Rusal and EuroSibEnergo.  But additional factors strengthen this conclusion.  For example, Deripaska is the founder of EN+, and was responsible for the hiring of many Rusal employees—another avenue for him to exert controlling influence.  Another sanctioned Russian oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, will continue to have a stake through SUAL Partners Limited, which owns 22.5 percent of Rusal.  And VTB, a Russian government-owned bank that is subject to some U.S. sanctions and that has ties to Deripaska, will own about 24 percent.  Taken together, these additional facts mean that Deripaska and companies and individuals connected to him, will continue to have the ability to exert significant control over EN+, Rusal and EuroSibEnergo after the restructuring. 

Bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate signaled their concern with this agreement.  These recent reports strengthen my determination that the agreement Treasury has struck with Deripaska needs to be overseen strictly not only by OFAC but also by Congress. 

Your letter describes the ongoing auditing, certification and reporting and other information rights that OFAC will receive with respect to these companies under the agreement.  I ask that you provide the Senate Intelligence Committee with the same information OFAC requests or receives regarding the companies and the results of any audits performed at OFAC’s request under the agreement so that Congress can continue its ongoing oversight of the sanctions imposed on Deripaska and his companies. 

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.  I would appreciate a response by February 3, 2019.

Sincerely,

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