Press Releases

Sens. Warner and Angus King (I-ME), both members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today urged the Senate Appropriations Committee to increase funding for cybersecurity upgrades at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Sen. Warner provided a variety of useful resources and an online form on his Senate website for Virginians potentially impacted by the cyberattack targeting health insurer CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield to contact his office for assistance.

Sens. Warner, Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) introduced a bill to require the IRS to notify potential victims of identity theft, something the agency has not always done in the past.

Sen. Warner urged the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to work with the private and public sector on technology to defend sensitive airspaces against possible threats posed by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also known as drones.

Senator Warner and the bipartisan delegation requested that the Air Force Space Command strongly consider locating a Cyber Operations Squadron (COS) at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE).

Sens. Mark Warner and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the bipartisan Geospatial Data Reform Act to improve oversight and reduce duplication in the management of geospatial data.

Sen. Mark Warner provided a variety of useful resources and an online form on his Senate website for Virginians potentially impacted by the cyberattack targeting Anthem to contact his office for assistance.

In response to a request from U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Agency, the board which governs the Metro transit system, pledged to implement a system for testing of Metro and regional emergency radio systems.

Sens. Warner and Tim Kaine today led a bipartisan group of six Senate colleagues in introducing The Startup Act to jumpstart investment and job creation by new businesses.

Sen. Warner, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, sent a letter to federal banking regulators today questioning the lack of follow-up to better protect consumers.

"Our nation’s defense depends upon a robust and innovative cyber force that is trained and ready to respond to dynamic threats,” the members wrote.

“We are proud of our work with partners in the House and across the aisle to secure $20 million in federal funding that will help Wallops Island rebound from the launch failure this fall,” the Senators said.

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) applauded the announcement today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that Virginia Tech’s unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) test site program is now operational.

Senators Warner and Kaine wrote letters to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray, and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez calling their attention to recent reports published in ProPublica and the Washington Post that detail abusive debt collection practices against servicemembers undertaken by a Virginia-based retailer.

Senator Warner asked privacy and consumer protection experts at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to provide more information on recent reports that the social network Facebook conducted an experiment involving nearly 700,000 users to study the emotional impact of manipulating information on their News Feeds.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence today passed the bipartisan Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2014 by a vote of 12-3. The bill includes an amendment by Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) that would require the Intelligence Community to produce a comprehensive accounting of the threat from cyberattacks and cybercrime.

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of nine U.S. Senators called on the Obama Administration today to accept private sector assistance in fixing the broken Department of Veterans Affairs (V-A) scheduling system. In a letter, Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Patty Murray (D-WA), Richard Burr (R-NC), Al Franken (D-MN), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), and Michael Bennet (D-CO), urged the V-A to follow the example of the Army, which in 2010 allowed a consortium of leading technology companies to provide expertise in designing a corrective plan, at no cost to the taxpayers, to fix widespread data management issues uncovered at the Army’s Arlington National Cemetery.

“Because of the immediacy of the many challenges at the VA, we urge you to work with us to implement a similar cost-effective, private sector initiative so we can begin restoring the trust of our veterans and the American public in the ability of the VA to meet the commitments our nation has made to our veterans. Our military men and women, their families, and our veterans deserve nothing less.”

“Engaging the tech sector and the best minds from leading American IT firms produced a comprehensive business plan to help the Army modernize its workflow procedures and upgrade the data management systems at Arlington. That effort, conducted at no cost to the taxpayers, represented the very best traditions of corporate citizenship,” the senators wrote.

Full text of the letter is below, and a PDF of the signed letter can be accessed here.

060514 VA Letter by Mark Warner

The President today signed U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner’s bipartisan legislation to standardize federal spending data and post it on a single website so Virginians can track how their tax dollars are being spent.

“Access to broadband is no longer a luxury and the current divide between urban and rural area access to modern communication is unacceptable,” the Senators said. “We need to continue to enhance efforts to make sure every Virginian has affordable access to broadband.”

The House of Representatives today approved Sen. Warner’s bipartisan legislation to standardize federal spending data and ensure it is made available online so Virginians can access information about how their tax dollars are being spent.

Sen. Warner announced that the National Retail Federation will establish an information sharing platform to allow the retail industry to coordinate with law enforcement agencies and partners in the financial services sector to more efficiently access information on cybersecurity threats.

Sens. Warner (D-VA) and Kaine (D-VA) and Rep. Moran, (D-VA-8) announced today that the Air Force has decided not to relocate the Office of Scientific Research from its current site in Arlington to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Senate today passed Sen. Warner and Sen. Portman’s (R-OH) bipartisan Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA).

Senators Warner and Johnson (R-WI) introduced a bill today to permit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to alert taxpayers that they have been victims of identity theft.

Senators Mark Warner and Mark Kirk (R-IL) today introduced the Consumer Debit Card Protection Act of 2014 (CDCPA), designed to increase consumer protections and reduce liability caps when debit cardholders are hit by fraud.

Press Releases

Intel Committee members urge Senate appropriators to fund President’s full FY 2016 request for OPM’s cybersecurity budget, with majority of new funds going towards IT infrastructure and security upgrades

Jun 10 2015

Cyberattack compromised information of 1.1 million current and former customers in Virginia, DC & Maryland

May 21 2015

Nearly 3 million incidents of tax-related identity theft were reported in 2013

May 13 2015

Suggests a pilot program to develop technology that can safely detect and disrupt “rogue” drones

May 11 2015

Apr 29 2015

New GAO report reveals duplication, minimal oversight

Mar 17 2015

Anthem is Va.’s largest insurer; also serves state & federal employees, retirees

Feb 05 2015

At Warner’s request, Metro board promises to ensure that Metro and local public safety agencies regularly test communications systems to ensure interoperability

Feb 03 2015

~ Legislation promotes innovation, jobs and new businesses ~

Jan 16 2015

~ Questions lack of action in implementing anti-fraud technology to protect consumers ~

Jan 12 2015

Recent high profile cybersecurity breaches heighten need for skilled personnel to manage cyber defense system

Dec 22 2014

Includes significant additional funding for repairs to flight facility

Dec 11 2014

~ Warner has long advocated for the UAS site, which will be one of six national test sites ~

Aug 13 2014

Report alleges that some retailers are bringing suit against servicemembers without opportunity to defend themselves

Aug 06 2014

~ Facebook data scientists manipulated content of nearly 700K users to study emotional response ~

Jul 09 2014

Jul 08 2014

~ In letter to President Obama, Senators urge top-level private sector review of V-A systems ~

Jun 05 2014

~ Groundbreaking government accountability legislation allows taxpayers to track every dollar spent by federal agencies on a single, accessible website ~

May 09 2014

~ Send Letter to FCC Supporting Rural Experiments ~

May 01 2014

~ Transparency Legislation Heads to President for Signature ~

Apr 28 2014

~ Senator Warner called for move in wake of Target data breach to strengthen consumer protections ~

Apr 15 2014

~ Following concerns from Northern Virginia delegation, Air Force keeps research command in Virginia ~

Apr 10 2014

~ Bipartisan DATA Act allows taxpayers to track every dollar spent by federal agencies ~ ~ ‘Most significant transparency legislation since Freedom of Information Act' ~

Apr 10 2014

Apr 10 2014

Apr 02 2014